FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Jacksonville University volleyball was back on the road Friday night as they made the trip to Fort Myers to take on FGCU in their first ASUN Conference road match of the season. The Dolphins (2-5, 0-3) were unable to stifle a hot-hitting Eagles (6-1, 4-1) offense, falling in straight sets (13-25, 16-25, 21-25).
In set one, FGCU scored the first two points of the night, but Jacksonville answered by scoring two of the next three on kills by
Hannah Edelman and
Isa Dostal to stay within reach at 3-2. A kill from
Sydney Bolding kept the Dolphins close at 5-3 but the Eagles soon settled into a rhythm on offense, as they managed to extend their lead, hitting .419 in the opening frame to take the set 25-13.
Set 2 saw the Dolphins take an early 2-1 lead behind a kill from Edelman and an Eagles attack miscue. Edelman helped keep JU close in the set as her second kill of the set tied things at 3-3. FGCU then pieced together a 5-0 run to retake the lead at 8-3. JU would battle back to make it 11-8 behind kills from Edelman and
Isa Dostal and some errors by FGCU, but again the Eagles' offense again allowed them to stretch their lead back out to as much as 11. A late Jacksonville surge highlighted by a
Gyrani Rogers ace wasn't enough to spark a comeback as FGCU took set two 25-16.
The third set of the night saw JU come out as the aggressor early, scoring four of the first five points in the set. An ace from
Avery Perosa got things rolling and was followed by kills from Dostal and Edelman along with a pair of errors from FGCU. The Dolphins would continue to lead and whenever the Eagles were able to get close, JU found a way to gain some separation. Back-to-back kills from
Jenna McNamara with the score at 5-4 pushed Jacksonville's advantage back to three and kept the set in favor of the Dolphins. The FGCU offense would not stay quiet for long, as they managed to chip away and tie the set at 13. A 5-1 run from the Dolphins pushed the lead back to four at 18-14 but it wasn't enough as the Eagles marched back with a 6-0 run to retake the lead for good, as they held on to win a pitched battle in set three 25-21.
Edelman posted her second double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs. Dostal and McNamara had five kills each while
Camryn Honn recorded 20 assists and three kills. Perosa finished the night with 11 digs, marking the sixth time this season she recorded double-digits in that category.
The two teams will wrap up the weekend series tomorrow at Alico Arena, with first serve scheduled for 6 PM.
