DELAND, Fla. – Jacksonville University volleyball rallied to force a fourth set, before falling 3-1 to Stetson at the Edmunds Center on Saturday night.
The Dolphins (3-11, 0-2) got strong contributions by several substitutions turning in season-best outings to close out the opening weekend of Atlantic Sun Conference play.
SET ONE
The two teams traded points early, until Stetson built out the largest early lead, 11-8. JU got kills by
Alija Heins,
Anna Erickson and
Claire Mrukowski to tie it at 11, then took a 14-12 lead on a kill by
Rebecca Rocassin and an ace by Mrukowski. After it was tied a couple more times, JU once again took a two-point lead, 17-15, when
Jenna McNamara and
Lyric Love came through for consecutive points.
After a Stetson timeout, they scored four in a row to take the lead, leading to a JU timeout. The Dolphins immediately tied it at 19 with back-to-back blocks, but the Hatters responded with another 3-0 run. Mrukowski helped JU cut it to one, 22-21, when she scored two in a row herself, but Stetson rattled off three-straight to close out the opening set with a 25-21 win.
SET TWO
The Hatters got off to a hot-start in the second, scoring the first six points. JU got three-straight points, in part due to consecutive kills by Erickson, to cut the deficit to 8-5. Stetson separated again, scoring six of seven to take a 16-8 lead and force a JU timeout. That break helped fuel a 3-0 run by the Dolphins to cut it to six. Stetson got to 20 first, but a kill by Erickson followed by her block assist with Heins made it 20-14 and the Hatters called time to regroup.
Out of the timeout, Barbora Hošková scored a kill and
Kariana Ayala-Drew aced Stetson, who called another timeout after their lead shrank to 21-17. Another 3-0 run with kills by Hošková and Love made it a three-point set late, but Stetson finally put it away, winning 25-20 to go up 2-0 in the match.
SET THREE
Heins scored an early kill to help spark a 7-0 run for the Dolphins, giving JU the 10-4 advantage. Hošková collected a pair of kills and assisted Heins on a block to cap off the strong stretch.
Lauren Nelson checked in and registered two kills in a row to help JU double-up the Hatters, 14-7. Stetson scored five of the next six to help them climb back into it, trailing by only three, 15-12, when JU took a timeout. Out of the break, the Dolphins scored four of the next five, with four different players helping lead to points. An ace by Erickson got JU to 20, and Nelson followed up with consecutive kills again, giving the Dolphins a 22-13 lead.
Stetson tried a late rally, cutting the JU lead to seven, but Erickson finished it off with another kill to give the Dolphins the 25-17 set win to extend the match.
SET FOUR
Stetson took an early 8-3 lead, before Hošková and Nelson scored consecutively for JU to cut it to three. The Hatters scored seven of the next eight, and JU took a timeout, trailing 16-7. The Dolphins chipped away, with Erickson scoring three-straight Dolphin points and sparking a 3-0 run to get within seven, 19-12. Three of the next four scored by JU cut it to six, but Stetson scored four of the final five points to finish the match.
UP NEXT
The Dolphins finish the Florida swing of their ASUN Conference opening road swing at North Florida for the River City Rumble on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
