JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A back-and-forth night ended with Jacksonville University volleyball earning its first victory of the season in its home opener.
 
The Dolphins (1-3) saved its best play for last, dominating the decisive fifth set to dispatch UNCW 3-2.
 
SET ONE
 
JU rattled off three quick points to open the set, including a service ace by Cami Kelsay, and built the lead out to 6-4 on an Isa Dostal kill. After the Seahawks came back to take their first lead of the night, 7-6, the set was close throughout. The Dolphins managed to match its largest lead when a Zoë LaBreche kill was sandwiched between two UNCW attack errors to build the lead to three, 15-12.
 
It was soon tied up again, and JU did not retake the lead until Kelsay's ace pushed the Dolphins in front 22-21, and they did not rescind the lead after that, closing out the 26-24 victory on a LaBreche ace.
 
SET TWO
 
UNCW bounced back swiftly, building an early 8-1 advantage that grew to 15-3 and 21-8, before JU pushed back, scoring six of the last eight points of the set, but falling 25-15.
 
SET THREE
 
Neither team led by more than one point to open up set three until the Seahawks went on a 4-0 run to take a 9-6 lead. The lead grew to as many as four for UNCW, when they took advantage of an attack error to lead 14-10. From there the Dolphins battled, first cutting it to one on a Kelsay ace, then fighting back from down four again to take the lead for the first time. Autumn DeSantis recorded a kill to kickstart am 8-1 run for JU, culminating in a kill by Kelsay to push the lead to 22-19. UNCW got within two, but no closer the rest of the way, as another kill by the dynamic freshman Kelsay, one of her six in the set, ended it, 25-21.
 
SET FOUR
 
Another tight set started with neither team gaining more than a two-point advantage until a bad set by JU gave UNCW a 9-6 lead. From there, it grew to 15-10 on a Seahawk kill to end a 5-2 run and forced a Jacksonville timeout. UNCW got up to a six-point lead, 18-12, before the Dolphins put together a run of their own. Kelsay notched three kills, LaBreche added one to lead a 5-0 run to cut it to 18-17. An injury halted the momentum, and after the break, UNCW scored seven of the last 10 points to force a fifth set.
 
SET FIVE
 
JU wasted no time asserting themselves in the last set. Two Kelsay kills, and attack error and an ace by Gyrani Rogers staked the Dolphins to a 4-0 lead and they did not look back. A 5-0 run after UNCW scored two straight featured three Kariana Ayala service aces and Brianna Jackson spiked it home to finish it off, 15-7.
 
Kelsay led the way with 18 kills and 21 points on the night, while LaBreche tacked on 12 kills of her own. Camryn Honn collected 30 assists and led the team with 20 digs as well, flying all over the court.
 
Jacksonville is back in action on Saturday, facing UNCW again and going for the weekend sweep. The match is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.