JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville University volleyball closed out the Jacksonville Invitational presented by Hampton Inn East Regency in emphatic fashion, sweeping Florida A&M in straight sets on Saturday afternoon at Swisher Gymnasium.
The Dolphins (3-3) finished 2-1 in its lone home tournament of the season.
"Being able to get comfortable in our own gym and be able to play in the space that we practice in everyday has been great for us, and for the team to see and feel the support from the home crowd and to play well was a big confidence boost for everybody," said Head Coach
Maggie Johnson. "From week one to week two, we talked about when we have to make an adjustment, we need to make it at our next opportunity or that next point and I think we were able to do that this weekend more so than week one."
SET ONE
JU achieved separation in the first set thanks to two 3-0 runs, with three kills by
Anna Erickson, two by
Alija Heins and an ace by
Rebecca Rocassin to take a 9-5 lead. FAMU used a 3-0 run to cut it to one, then another 3-0 run to take a 13-12 lead. JU took advantage of some Rattler errors and another Erickson kill to retake the lead, 15-13.
It remained tight, with the two teams within a point of each other, until, with the set tied at 22,
Lyric Love put JU in front with a kill. After an error on FAMU, JU closed it out with Erickson's sixth kill of the set, winning 25-23.
SET TWO
An early 5-0 run for the Dolphins, highlighted by two aces from Heins, gave JU an 8-4 lead. Another quick 4-0 run pushed the lead to 12-5, with Love collecting a pair of kills. FAMU got within five, 18-13, on its own 3-0 run, but JU was the beneficiary of a few errors by the Rattlers and then scored five of the final six points of the set, thanks to a kill by
Myah Robinson and FAMU serving out of rotation, helping the Dolphins to a 25-15 set two victory to go up 2-0 in the match.
SET THREE
The third set started tight, with the teams tied at six and within one until JU used a stretch of scoring five of six to go up 13-8. Rocassin had two aces and
Kristina Nika added another in that run. Later in the set,
Cami Kelsay ripped off four straight kills to help JU push the lead to 20-12. Erickson had two kills down the stretch and
Claire Mrukowski finished the match with one of her own, to deliver the set 25-17 and secure the second sweep of the weekend.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
The all-tournament team was voted on by the respective coaches of the competing teams.
Ali Ruffin (MVP) – The Citadel
Maddy Cardenas – The Citadel
Jaelynn Elgert – The Citadel
Alija Heins – Jacksonville
Rebecca Rocassin – Jacksonville
Brooke Lynn Watts – Florida A&M
Millie O'Ketter – Northern Arizona
UP NEXT
JU heads to Athens, Georgia for the Bulldog Classic, featuring host Georgia, Samford and Army, with the action starting on Thursday.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
