JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville University volleyball dominated in a three-set win over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday evening at Swisher Gymnasium.
 
The Dolphins (6-14, 3-5) won for a third time in the last four Atlantic Sun Conference matches at home.
 
SET ONE
 
JU set the tone at the net early, riding four blocks, with Jenna McNamara, Alija Heins, Barbora Hošková, Lyric Love and Anna Erickson all getting in on the action. A 5-0 run gave the Dolphins a 14-9 lead. EKU broke the run, but the Dolphins stayed hot, scoring four of the next six, capped by a kill from Rebecca Rocassin after a furious rally that the Colonels seemed to be scrambling to keep up throughout. EKU took a second timeout, trailing 17-11 at that point.
 
The Colonels were able to regroup, scoring four-straight out of the break to cut it to one, 17-16, and this time, JU took a timeout to settle things down. EKU tied it when action resumed, but a kill by Erickson broke the deadlock and the Dolphins never looked back. A 4-0 run led by two kills and a block by McNamara helped put it away, closing out a 25-20 win to open the match.
 
SET TWO
 
EKU tied the set at five and took an early lead, keeping the Dolphins at bay until a kill by Erickson tied it at 10 and then she combined with Love for a block to put JU back in front. That was part of a stretch where the Dolphins scored seven of 10 points to take a 15-13 lead into the media timeout. After EKU scored to cut it to one, McNamara and Heins scored back-to-back kills and Kristina Nika landed a service ace to push the advantage to 18-14 and force the Colonels to take a timeout.
 
Things stayed hot for the Dolphins out of the stoppage, with JU ending the set on a 5-0 run, capped by an ace by Hošková to win it 25-15 and give the home side a 2-0 match lead.
 
SET THREE
 
A pair of early service aces by Rocassin put JU in front 5-4, but EKU came back to take an 8-6 lead. Heins delivered a kill to tie it back up at eight, but a 3-0 run not long after gave the Colonels its largest advantage of the set, 14-10. JU scored four of five, including back-to-back blocks by Love and McNamara and a solo by Love to cut it to 16-15. Rocassin and Heins had another denial at the net to tie the set at 18 soon after.
 
EKU retook the lead and kept the Dolphins from stringing points together until it was 22-20 Colonels and Erickson delivered a big kill. Rocassin had an ace right after to tie it at 22. After an EKU timeout, the Colonels went up 23-22, but Hošková and McNamara scored back-to-back, and a 3-0 run finished it 25-23 to complete the sweep.

COACH'S COMMENTS



UP NEXT

Jacksonville heads back out on the road for four away from home, playing next Friday night at 7 p.m. at Central Arkansas.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Dolphins finished the night with a 13-1 advantage in blocks, six of them coming in the first set alone
• JU had 54 digs, the most in a three-set match this season. Kristina Nika (15) and Kariana Ayala-Drew (13) both had double-digit digs
• Anna Erickson and Jenna McNamara led the way with 10 kills each