JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville University volleyball sent its seniors out with a sweep win over FGCU on Saturday evening at Swisher Gymnasium.
The Dolphins (9-19, 6-10) concluded the season on a high note, giving the Eagles their first conference loss of the season.
SET ONE
The first set started off very even with the Dolphins and Eagles trading points, putting them at an 8-8 deadlock. From there, Jacksonville rattled off three straight points to take the lead to 11-8, forcing FGCU to take a timeout. After that timeout, JU broke off a 9-4 run to take 20-12 Dolphin lead, with two kills each, from freshman Alija Heins and grad senior Anna Erickson.
A Jenna McNamara kill made the lead 21-13 as the Dolphins looked to secure the first set. The Eagles stuck around until Erickson got it to 24 with a kill, and Lyric Love called set with a sensational kill, to give the Dolphins the 1-0 lead in the match.
SET TWO
The Dolphins got off to a bit of a rough start in the second, trailing 8-4. In a quick turn though, JU scored three aces from grad senior Kariana Ayala-Drew, as well as a sharp kill from Barbora Hošková to give them a lead, 9-8.
The teams went back and forth throughout the set, with the Dolphins finding themselves behind 17-13. JU fought back and went on a 6-2 run, and with another Ayala-Drew kill, took the lead 20-19. Both teams alternated points, with the Eagles on the brink of taking the second set with a lead of 24-22. With three clutch kills from Erickson and a fantastic block by Love and Hošková, the Dolphins snuck back and took set two 26-24 in dramatic fashion to go up 2-0 in the match.
SET THREE
The third set continued with the same intense energy from the first two sets, with both teams battling to a 13-13 standstill. Jacksonville broke through with a demanding 10-3 run, with kills from seniors Love, Hošková and Erickson, giving them the lead 23-15.
The Dolphins finished off the third and final set with a pair of kills from senior Jenna McNamara. The Dolphins cruised to victory, as they were led by their senior group all evening long.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
