SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Jacksonville University volleyball rallied to win the final two sets, beating California Baptist 3-2 on Friday morning at Mission College Gymnasium.
The Dolphins (1-0) saw contributions from a whole host of players on the roster to prevail in the first match of the San Jose State/Santa Clara Tourney.
"This was a complete team win, which is great to see at the start of a season," said Head Coach
Maggie Johnson. "I was really proud of everyone's willingness to step into new or different roles at any moment and find success."
SET ONE
Set one took a concerted effort by JU to come from behind to win. CBU scored the first three points of the set, and after JU cut it to 3-2, the Lancers went on a 4-0 run. The CBU lead grew to as many as six, 12-6, before the Dolphins started to chip away, preparing for the run.
That run came with JU trailing 18-13.
Jenna McNamara rattled off consecutive kills and Barbora Hošková contributed a service ace. CBU took advantage of a service error to briefly halt the JU run, but the Dolphins came right back and scored the next four to take a 20-19 lead. The Lancers tried to push late, but an attack error gave JU the opening set victory, 25-23.
SET TWO
The two teams traded points for the first four serves of set two, before JU found itself scoring four in a row to lead 6-4, thanks to a kill by Hošková and a trio of Lancer errors. They went back to trading points until CBU broke a 10-10 tie and did not look back.
They led by as many as four throughout much of the rest of the set, with JU cutting it to three late a handful of times, before the Lancers ended the set on a 5-0 run to win 25-17.
SET THREE
CBU continued its hot play in the third set, starting off up 3-0, and growing the lead to 7-2 before JU answered with a run. The Dolphins scored five of the next six points, using two kills by Alijah Heins and one from
Anna Erickson to get within one, 8-7. CBU then responded, scoring seven of the next eight points, and led 15-8.
JU fought back with two kills by
Lyric Love, with McNamara and Erickson also contributing, as they got within five, 18-13.
Five of the next seven points were scored by CBU and despite three late kills by McNamara, the margin was too great to overcome, with CBU taking a 2-1 match lead after winning the set 25-18.
SET FOUR
CBU led the fourth set 3-2 early, with JU then scoring three straight to take a 5-3 lead. The Lancers rallied to tie it at six and seven, then took a 9-8 lead. Freshman
Claire Mrukowski registered a kill to tie it at nine and spark a 5-0 run that gave JU a 12-9 lead.
The lead grew to 15-11 when McNamara collected consecutive kills, and she kickstarted a 5-0 run of her own, where JU also got kills from Love and
Rebecca Rocassin, before McNamara ended it with yet another kill to push the JU lead to 21-13. After CBU cut it to 23-18, Erickson brought the Dolphins to set point and JU won 25-18 to even the match at two apiece.
SET FIVE
The Dolphins got off to a good start in the final set, taking an early 3-1 lead and setting the tone. CBU came back to get within one, 6-5, but that is as close as they got the rest of the way. Rocassin and Erickson kills were part of a 3-0 run to make it 9-5, and Mrukowski came up big multiple times to help seal the victory. She and fellow freshman Heins combined on a block, she added a kill and the match ended on a combo block with Love to clinch the set, 15-8.
UP NEXT
The Dolphins conclude the San Jose State/Santa Clara Tourney on Saturday with two matches. First, JU battles Santa Clara at 2 p.m. and then faces San Jose State at 8 p.m.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
