FORT MEYERS, Fla. – The Jacksonville University volleyball was back in action Saturday night at Alico Arena for the opening round of the 2021 ASUN Conference Volleyball Championship against the top seed from the South Division FGCU. Playing for the third time in the last week, the Dolphins (3-14) managed to keep pace with the Eagles (13-2) to begin the evening, but the preseason favorites to win the conference were ultimately too much, downing JU in straight sets (25-16, 25-9, 25-9) to advance to the semifinal round.

"It was great to see the team get the payoff for all the hard work they had put into this year," said head coach Maggie Couture. "The last few weeks of our best volleyball were the results of a lot of hard work the team put in behind the scenes. The expectations we have for ourselves are and always will be high, that does not waiver. We took some steps forward in reaching our goals this year, but ultimately fell short and I think that paves the way for the work we need to put in going forward."
 
"I think it is easy for everyone outside the program to see the skill improvements that out players made over this last year since the fall," said Couture. "But I think the things that have impressed me the most are the intangibles that they have worked on and have improved. Sometimes, intangibles are harder to progress on because the results are harder to see. Our ability to give and receive feedback and holding teammates accountable were things that we stressed over the last year and it was great to see the steps forward that we took in those areas."
 
"This group has tremendous potential and what was the most exciting was to watch them work together and be greater than the sum of their parts. I can't wait to see the individual growth that we make and what that can do for our team as a whole."
 
"I cannot thank this senior class enough for the work they put into this year and how much they poured into this young team. They will be able to come back and visit in a few years as JU Alumni and see the results of their hard work. The imprint these three left on this program will be felt for a long time to come."
 
Things were close in the opening stages of set one, with Jacksonville scoring the first point of the night on an attack error by FGCU before the Eagles scored five of the next six to lead 5-2. JU then scored two of the next four by way of kills from Sydney Bolding and Madison Rayam to stay within reach, trailing 7-4. A 4-0 run by the Eagles to make it 11-4 was followed by three-straight from the Dolphins, led by Autumn DeSantis and Hannah Edelman to get back within four but that would be as close as JU would get, as another FGCU run pushed their lead back to eight and helped them take the opening set of the night 25-16.
 
FGCU controlled the second set from start to end, hitting .500 for the set with 14 kills. Bolding recorded a pair of kills in the later stages of the set, but it wasn't enough to kickstart the Dolphins offensively, as the Eagles took the set 25-9.
 
The Eagles got on the board first in set three but the Dolphins were able to pace FGCU in the early going, tying the set at 3-3 following a kill by Rayam and a pair of errors by the home team. The Eagles scored the next seven before JU got back within five following a DeSantis kill and an ace by Addyson Lewis. FGCU then took control of the set, using a 10-2 run to build a 20-7 lead as they went on to take the set 25-9 and the match 3-0.
 
Bolding and DeSantis led the way for the Dolphins with six kills each. Honn dished out 17 assists and recorded 8 digs in addition to three kills. Avery Perosa recorded 10 digs to lead the way in that category. Six different players registered a kill in the match for Jacksonville.

The Dolphins end the season at 3-14 while FGCU moves on to face North Florida in the semifinal round.