NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jacksonville University volleyball battled its way to a five-set victory over Bellarmine on Sunday at Allen Arena.
 
The Dolphins (4-11, 1-2) went up early and had to rally from down two sets to one to pick a hard-earned first ASUN Conference win of the season.
 
SET ONE
 
JU got things started by battling Bellarmine back-and-forth early. Autumn DeSantis picked up a kill to tie the set at six and the Dolphins went on a run after that, completing a 5-0 run to lead 10-6. Bellarmine cut the JU lead to one, 15-14, but Isa Dostal and DeSantis combined for a block and the Dolphins separated again.
 
Dostal contributed an ace as part of a 3-0 run to extended the lead to 18-14 and Zoë LaBreche iced the set victory with a kill, as JU prevailed 25-21.
 
SET TWO
 
Dostal picked up two early kills, and Honn had another for JU to stay close early, but Lipscomb managed to stay in front throughout much of the set. The Dolphins trailed by as many as eight, but rallied late. LaBreche recorded a kill, Jenna McNamara added another and Bellarmine made several mistakes to help JU cut the deficit to three, 22-19. From there, the Knights settled down and closed out the set.
 
SET THREE
 
Another good start for the Dolphins featured a kill by Keyauna Linwood to give JU a 12-10 lead. Bellarmine kept it close, but Dostal and McNamara combined for a big block to keep JU in front 15-14, and Niccola Bozzini recorded back-to-back aces to make it 19-17. Another block for Dostal as the Dolphins got to set point, but Bellarmine scored four straight, and after going into extras, the Knights prevailed 27-25 to take a 2-1 set lead.
 
SET FOUR
 
Dostal picked up an early kill to tie things at four, and the Dolphins rallied again later to knot it up at nine on a Jenna McNamara kill. After that, a 7-1 run capped off by consecutive kills from LaBreche and Honn put JU up 16-12 and forced Bellarmine to call a timeout.
 
DeSantis had two straight kills to set the score at 22-17 and Gyrani Rogers had an ace to close out the set, 25-18, and even things at two, forcing the decisive fifth set.
 
SET FIVE
 
DeSantis and Linwood helped JU score the first three points of the set, getting off to a crucially strong start. McNamara added a kill and a block to make it 6-2 JU, and after Bellarmine cut it to four, a 3-0 run, capped by a DeSantis kill put the Dolphins ahead comfortably.
 
LaBreche collected a kill for match point and Linwood finished it off two serves later, 15-9.
 
McNamara and DeSantis had 15 kills to lead the team, with LaBreche adding 13 of her own. Honn had 46 assists through the five sets, with McNamara digging 18 to lead the team. Dostal had eight blocks and Linwood tacked on five.
 
JU returns home next weekend, hosting FGCU on Friday night at 7 p.m. and Stetson on Saturday at 5 p.m.