JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville University volleyball split its two matches on the opening day of the Jacksonville Invitational presented by Hampton Inn East Regency.
The Dolphins (2-3) opened the event with a 3-0 sweep of Northern Arizona, and concluded the day's action inside Swisher Gymnasium with a dramatic five-set loss to The Citadel.
MATCH ONE
The match got off to a competitive start, with neither team leading by more than three until JU rattled off a 5-0 run, with balanced scoring from five different players, to take a 14-7 lead. NAU tried to claw back, but the Dolphins kept them at bay, until a late push by the Lumberjacks saw them cut the deficit to 20-19 on the back of a 5-0 run of its own. JU immediately responded with a kill by
Anna Erickson, kickstarting a 4-0 run, and two serves later,
Rebecca Rocassin collected a kill to deliver the first set to JU, 25-20.
Another close start to the second set started to turn in favor of the home side, when JU scored five of six at one point, punctuated by consecutive kills by
Alija Heins, to lead 10-5. The success did not stop there, as the Dolphins rattled off six of the next seven points, with Barbora Hošková scoring back-to-back points and Erickson delvering an ace to make it 16-7 Dolphins. The lead grew to nine, thanks to
Lyric Love punching home two straight kills and a Lumberjack error making it 20-11. After a mini-run by NAU, the Dolphins scored four straight, on kills by
Cami Kelsay and Love, as well as an ace by
Kariana Ayala-Drew. Erickson ended it with her third kill of the set, JU winning 25-15 to go up 2-0.
NAU did not want to go down without a fight, using an early 4-0 run to lead 9-5 in the third set. JU answered, scoring four of the next five, in part thanks to back-to-back service aces by Rocassin, to cut the deficit to 10-9. The Lumberjacks kept the lead, though, until two kills by Love and an ace by
Niccola Bozzini gave JU a 15-14 lead. NAU tied it again at 15, then at 16, but the Dolphins used a 7-0 run, with an ace by Nika, two kills by Heins and an incredible four by
Anna Erickson to build a 23-16 lead it would not relinquish. Five points later, Hošková ended it with a kill, to win the set 25-19 and complete the match sweep.
MATCH TWO
After allowing the first three points of the opening set, the Dolphins quickly tied it at three, in part due to a couple of kills by Erickson. A pair of aces by Rocassin soon followed, and a kill by Heins forced The Citadel to take a timeout, trailing 8-4. They rallied to cut it to one, 11-10, but two more kills by Erickson and another by Heins grew the lead to four again for JU. After giving a point back, the Dolphins rattled off three more straight, with two more aces by Rocassin to make it 17-11. Love tacked on two kills, Erickson and Heins each had one more down the stretch and JU prevailed, 25-20 in the first set.
The Citadel took an early lead in the second set, up 6-3, but JU answered, tying it at seven on a kill by Love. It was back-and-forth until a 3-0 run by The Citadel put them up 18-15. JU again strung together points, scoring three-straight to take a 21-20 lead. The Bulldogs scored five of the last six points of the set and evened the match with a 25-22 set two victory.
JU used an early 5-0 run to take a 9-7 lead in set three, but soon fell behind, 11-10. After tying it at 11, the Dolphins never tied the score again, cutting the lead to one four times, but never able to climb over the hump, falling behind 2-1 in the match after losing set three 25-21.
Determined not to go down without a fight, JU scored five straight and seven of eight points to lead 11-5 early, with
Cami Kelsay providing a spark off the bench with two kills. The lead grew to 14-7 when Kelsay capped off a 3-0 stretch with an ace. The Dolphins kept the Bulldogs at bay much of the set, using a late 3-0 stretch, with kills by Love, Rocassin and Kelsay, to go up 21-11, and then put it away to win 25-15 and force a decisive final set.
Claire Mrukowski had a kill to start the scoring in the fifth, but The Citadel scored six of the next seven to go up 6-2. JU climbed within one on an ace by Kelsay to make it 11-10, but the Bulldogs closed scoring four of the final six to take the marathon match.
UP NEXT
JU concludes the Jacksonville Invitational presented by Hampton Inn East Regency tomorrow at 2 p.m. vs. Florida A&M at Swisher Gym.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Anna Erickson led the team in kills on the day, combing for 25 over the two matches. Lyric Love was just behind with 23 of her own
- Cami Kelsay came off the bench in The Citadel match to register nine kills and two aces
- Kristina Nika logged a career-best 25 digs vs The Citadel and 41 total on the day
- Rebecca Rocassin had a season-high 52 assists vs. The Citadel
- JU is now 1-1 in matches that go the distance this season
