FORT MYERS, Fla. – Jacksonville University volleyball rallied multiple times, but ultimately fell in five sets to FGCU on Friday night at Alico Arena.
 
The Dolphins (3-10, 0-1) came back from down 1-0 and 2-1 in the match, but the Eagles held them off in the fifth in both teams' Atlantic Sun Conference opener.
 
SET ONE
 
JU got off to a strong start to the match, taking an early 3-0 lead, which became a 6-3 advantage, then grew to 8-4, with Jenna McNamara scoring a pair of kills and capping the strong start with an ace. FGCU came back to tie it at 11, but the Dolphins stayed within a few points, until Lyric Love started a 3-0 run with a kill and Kristina Nika ended it with an ace to tie the set at 17.
 
Things were tied again twice more, before a 3-0 stretch for FGCU put them ahead 22-19. McNamara had two more kills down the stretch, but it was not enough, as the Eagles prevailed 25-21 in the opening set.
 
SET TWO
 
The Dolphins rallied from an early deficit in the second set, using a 5-0 run that started with a kill by Love and featured four consecutive aces by Rebecca Rocassin to go up 8-6. After FGCU quickly tied it, JU responded with four more points in a row, with two points scored by McNamara on a kill and an ace to give the Dolphins a 12-8 lead.
 
The lead shrunk to 16-15, but back-to-back kills by McNamara forced an FGCU timeout with the Dolphins up three. Later, Love scored three points in a row for JU, with the lead growing to 21-17. Nika chipped in a late ace and Anna Erickson had a kill as JU weathered a late push by the Eagles to take the set 25-22 and tie the match at one.
 
SET THREE
 
The third set started with the two teams trading points, and it was tied at nine before Claire Mrukowski and Erickson went back-to-back to give the Dolphins a little separation. The two-point lead disappeared when FGCU ripped off a 3-0 run. McNamara and Rocassin scored two-straight kills to give JU the lead again, 14-13, but the Eagles took it back on a 3-0 run and did not look back, as it was part of greater stretch in which they scored nine of 10 to go up 22-15. The Dolphins mustered three more points, but that was all before FGCU put the set away, 25-18, taking a 2-1 match lead.
 
SET FOUR
 
After Love scored a kill and then combined with McNamara for a block to give the Dolphins an early 5-4 lead, FGCU scored the next three to go on top. JU tied it twice right after, then went up 12-11 thanks to an ace by Kariana Ayala-Drew, leading to an FGCU timeout. Alija Heins scored twice with a kill and an ace on a 3-0 JU run, and the Dolphins continued to have answers to keep the Eagles from tying it over the next several points.
 
Mrukowski contributed her own personal 3-0 stretch, with two kills and a block to get JU to 20 first. FGCU cut it to two twice, but the Dolphins closed out a 25-21 set victory to force a fifth set.
 
SET FIVE
 
McNamara scored two early kills to give JU the lead to start the deciding set, with FGCU answering with three straight. The Dolphins cut it to one twice, but another 3-0 run by the Eagles made it 8-4. Erickson scored twice in a row and Nika added an ace to get the Dolphins within one, 8-7. Heins scored three of JU's next four to keep it a one-score set, but FGCU scored the final three points to win the set 15-11 and capture the match victory.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Dolphins continue its conference-opening road swing through Florida with a Saturday evening match at Stetson at 6 p.m.
 
NOTABLE NUMBERS
 

• JU's 15 service aces were a season-high
• Three Dolphins totaled double-digit digs, led by Kristina Nika's 17
• Four players had double-digit kills
• It was the third match to go to five sets for JU this season