JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville University volleyball rallied from the brink for the second-straight match, but ultimately fell just short to Bellarmine in five sets on Friday at Swisher Gymnasium.
 
The Dolphins (5-14, 2-5) won the fourth set decisively, and scored three-in-a-row facing match point before the Knights managed to close it out and end JU's home-winning streak.
 
SET ONE
 
Trailing by five, Bellarmine used a 4-0 run to get within striking distance, 16-15. JU managed to answer back, with the two teams trading points, until Kristina Nika scored an ace and Barbora Hošková and Alija Heins combined for a block on a 3-0 run to give JU the 21-17 lead and force the Knights to take a second timeout.
 
With the Dolphins up five, Bellarmine dug deep, taking advantage of a few errors and scoring two aces on a 5-0 run to tie it at 22 and JU called timeout to settle things down.
 
The break worked, as Hošková scored a kill immediately and Jenna McNamara registered two down the stretch to propel the Dolphins to a 25-23 set one early to take the early match advantage.
 
SET TWO
 
The Knights quickly put the first set behind them, scoring the first five points of the second. With the lead 9-3, JU took a timeout to reset. The Dolphins were finally able to cut into the six-point deficit with a 3-0 run fueled by a block from by Heins and McNamara, followed by an ace from Hošková to get it to 12-8 Bellarmine.
 
JU used another 3-0 run to get the deficit to three, but the Knights kept the Dolphins at bay until Lyric Love denied back-to-back Bellarmine attacks to cut it to two, 18-16, and force a timeout by the Knights. The Dolphins kept the pressure on, scoring three-in-a-row again, capped by a block by Hošková and Heins to tie the set at 19. Bellarmine took a 23-20 lead, but JU had one last push, using a kill by McNamara and two by Anna Erickson to make it 24-23 Knights, but BU managed to close it out before the Dolphins could tie, winning 25-23 to even the match at one.
 
SET THREE
 
Bellarmine got off to another strong start to the set, taking a three-point lead that grew to as many as seven, with JU struggling to find a rhythm throughout much of the early going. Trailing 14-7, the Dolphins scored three-in-a-row, getting kills from Hošková and McNamara to get it to 14-10.
 
The Knights scored four of five at one point to push the advantage to 20-13. JU cut it to four, 23-19, on an ace by Hošková, but Bellarmine took a timeout and scored the last two to close out the set out of the break, winning 25-19 to go up 2-1 in the match.
 
SET FOUR
 
JU was able to flip the script to start the fourth set, erasing an early 2-0 deficit and using a 4-0 run to go up 10-5, thanks to two kills by Heins and an ace by Kariana Ayala-Drew. The Knights took a timeout, but were not able to string together any consistent scoring. JU scored five of seven and the Knights called a second timeout trailing 15-8.
 
The Dolphins reached 20 points first on a kill by Erickson, and Rebecca Rocassin racked up consecutive aces to get it to 24, before another kill by Hošková delivered the 25-17 set win to force the fifth set.
 
SET FIVE
 
The Knights established an early lead, but JU rallied to tie it at four when Erickson and Heins combined on a block. Three-straight scored by Bellarmine made it 7-4 and the Dolphins took a timeout. Trailing by four, JU scored four of the next five to cut it to one, 9-8, with three kills by Erickson in that stretch. The lead for Bellarmine stayed between one and two until back-to-back for the Knights gave them a 14-11 lead and forced a JU timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, the Knights were awarded what appeared to be match point on an attack error by McNamara, but after a challenge, it was overturned and the Dolphins were granted new life. That sparked a 4-0 run with a kill by Erickson and a block by Heins and Rocassin to put JU in front 15-14. It was then Bellarmine's turn to take a timeout facing the end of the match, and they managed to break serve, scoring the final three to take the set, 17-15, and the match.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
 

• JU finished with 13 blocks, the second-most in a game this season
• Alija Heins had seven total blocks, a new career-high and a career-best 12 kills
• Four Dolphins finished with double-digit kills, led by Barbora Hošková's season-high 14. She was followed by Heins (12) Anna Erickson (11) and Jenna McNamara (10)