FLORENCE, Ala. – Jacksonville University volleyball could not complete a great rally in the third set to take the match lead, and ultimately fell in four sets to North Alabama on Sunday in CB&S Arena at Flowers Hall.
 
The Dolphins (7-15, 4-6) evened the match with a second set win and trailed by as many as eight in the third, before coming back to have a chance at set point, but the Lions found a way to win the set and carried that momentum to take the match.
 
SET ONE
 
North Alabama scored four-straight points to start the match, but JU rallied, taking advantage of some mistakes to get within one, 6-5. Anna Erickson delivered a kill to tie it at seven, and she had two more to help the Dolphins tie things again at 10. UNA continued to answer back, forcing JU to play catch-up throughout. Alija Heins scored two kills to get JU within two twice, 16-14 and then 18-16. Erickson then ripped off a personal 3-0 run to get it to one, 20-19. That is as close as the Dolphins would get, as the Lions scored five of the final seven points of the set to take it 25-21.
 
SET TWO
 
JU got off to a strong start in the second set, scoring the first three points and five of the first seven. UNA cut the deficit to one, but a kill by Erickson and a solo block for Jenna McNamara pushed the lead back to three, 7-4. A 5-0 run, broken up briefly by a timeout for the Lions, allowed for the Dolphins to double the score. Three straight blocks, with Heins assisting on two and grabbing a solo one to end the stretch, were followed by kills by Rebecca Rocassin and Heins to make it 14-7 JU.
 
UNA got within five, 17-12, but the Dolphins scored the next five points, thanks to kills by Erickson, Lyric Love and McNamara and a combo block by Love and Myah Robinson to push the lead to 22-12. After a late run by the Lions, McNamara finished it off with a kill, giving JU a 25-15 set win to even the match at one apiece.
 
SET THREE
 
With the third set tied at three early, UNA scored three in a row to go up 6-3, establishing an early advantage that JU had trouble cutting into. The lead grew to eight, 15-8, but the Dolphins continued to chip away, first scoring three of four thanks to a pair of kills by Erickson to trim it to 16-11, then rattling off five of six after that, including a 3-0 run with two kills by Heins and an ace by Niccola Bozzini to cut the deficit to two, 18-16, and force a called timeout by UNA.
 
JU got it to one, 20-19, with a kill by Heins and a combo block by Rocassin and Love, but the Lions scored the next two to get some separation again. An error, followed by an ace for Rocassin once again brought the Dolphins within one, 22-21. The Lions pushed ahead once more, getting to set point, 24-21, but JU was not done. Erickson scored a kill, JU forced an attack error, Erickson delivered an ace and Love and McNamara combined for a block to lead a 4-0 run to give the Dolphins set point, 25-24. UNA pushed back once more, registering back-to-back blocks to gain the advantage once again, and finally finished off JU 27-25 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
SET FOUR
 
A pair of early kills by Erickson and Love had the Dolphins within one, 6-5, but UNA followed that up by scoring six-straight to take a 12-5 lead. After trailing by as many as eight, JU used a 3-0 run to start to climb back into, with Heins getting a kill and combining with Erickson for a block, the latter of whom then scored a kill herself to make it 15-10.
 
The Lions stepped on the gas after that, building the lead to nine, 21-12, then finishing it off by scoring four of the last six points to take the match in four.
 
UP NEXT
 
JU hits the road again next weekend, facing Kennesaw State on Friday night and Queens on Saturday.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
 

• Anna Erickson posted a season-high 21 kills, four off of her career-high
• She also matched her season-high with 11 digs for a double-double on the day, her second of the season
• Alija Heins had her ninth double-digit kill match, scoring 11
• Three players had double-figure digs