NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jacksonville University volleyball opened up ASUN Conference play at Allen Arena on Friday, falling in three sets to Eastern Kentucky.
 
The Dolphins (3-10, 0-1) took the Colonels to the brink in the second set, but ultimately could not hold on, and struggled to erase late set deficits in the other two.
 
SET ONE
 
EKU opened up the set on a 4-0 run, but the Dolphins battled back to cut it to one, 8-7, on a Brianna Jackson and Isa Dostal block, but the Colonels responded with a 7-0 run that forced a JU timeout. A late 3-0 push in the set got the Dolphins back on track, fueled by a Jackson kill, followed by a block by Barbora Romancova and Jackson and then an ace by Autumn DeSantis, but EKU closed it out to take set one, 25-14.
 
SET TWO
 
Jenna McNamara and Kyndaal Stansberry chipped in kills to help the Dolphins keep pace in a back-and-forth affair early in the set. EKU then took a 10-5 lead before the Dolphins got hot. Romancova assisted on three straight blocks as part of a 4-0 run that tied the game at 15 and caused EKU to call a timeout. The teams traded points until Stansberry had a kill and Nicola Bozzini followed that with an ace to go up two, 19-17.
 
Isa Dostal and DeSantis had kills to keep the Colonels at bay, but they put together a 3-0 run to force set point at 24-21. Romancova continued her strong set, picking up a kill on a Camryn Honn assist, Jackson followed that up with a kill and JU cut it to 24-23, before EKU came out a timeout and picked up set point.
 
SET THREE
 
EKU started off the set well, and stayed ahead of JU by three to four points for much of the early part of it. After JU cut it to two, 10-8, on a Rebecca Rocassin ace, EKU built the lead out to five multiple times. The Dolphins again cut it close, coming within three, 16-13, when Rocassin delivered another ace, but the Colonel lead grew to as many as six before JU used a timeout.
 
JU strung together a 3-0 run with a Jackson kill and a few Colonel errors to trim the deficit to 22-16, before EKU forced match point. Again, the Dolphins fought back, getting a kill from Dostal, ace by Gyrani Rogers and using a Colonel attack error to go on a 3-0 run and make the score 24-20 before EKU closed out the match.
 
Dostal led the team in kills with 10, while Jackson adding nine herself. Honn assisted 26 times and had 11 digs, while Kariana Ayala led the team with 14 digs. Romancova had five blocks, and Jackson had four. Rocassin chipped in two service aces.
 
JU continues its opening weekend of ASUN play on Saturday night against host Lipscomb. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.