FORT MYERS, Fla. --- The Jacksonville volleyball team traveled south to face the reigning ASUN champion FGCU Eagles, and the Dolphins took down the Eagles in four sets. JU rallied six straight points in the fourth while facing set point to pull off the match win.

Jacksonville has yet to drop back-to-back matches this season, and it defeated FGCU for the fourth time since 2015.

How It Happened
Set 1
The first set looked the part of a championship level bout, with neither team finding an edge through the first half of the opener. With the match tied at 13-13, JU finally took the first shot, pulling ahead with a 6-1 run putting the Dolphins up five.

Senior Breanna McDonough and junior Rebekah Williams closed it out for Jacksonville down the stretch, with two kills from McDonough and another from Williams giving the Dolphins the 25-18 set win.

Set 2
The second set was a near carbon copy of the first, with neither team taking a substantial lead until Jacksonville inched ahead 4-0 run to take a 19-15 advantage. From that point, the Dolphins nursed a lead all the way down the stretch of the set.

McDonough laced another kill to get JU to 20 points, then Williams closed it out. The junior put the Dolphins on set point with a kill, then she closed it out herself with another to win the set 25-22.

Set 3
The Eagles responded in the third set to avoid the straight sweep. FGCU took an 11-8 lead early, and it held the lead the rest of the way. Williams cut the lead to three, 19-16, but the hosts carried the rest of the way. FGCU scored six of the final seven points to win set three and force a fourth.

Set 4
The fourth set proved to be the most dramatic of the match. FGCU looked destined to force a tiebreaker fifth set, taking a 23-18 lead late in the fourth set. JU junior Claire Mrukowski immediately pulled the Dolphins back into the set with back-to-back kills.

However, the Eagles answered with a kill to put themselves on set point. With the set hanging in the balance, Jacksonville found its best form since the second set.

Sophomore Haley Yount kept the match alive with a kill, then she and McDonough rose from the right side to block back a shot and pull another point closer. The block rose tall once again, this time Williams joining Yount on the front line to make the score 24-23.

Still facing a FGCU set point, Williams scored another kill to tie the match. The one way traffic for JU continued as Yount hit a kill to put the Dolphins on a match point of their own. The defense would be the one to win the game, with Yount and Williams combining for another block to win the set 26-24 and win the match.

Match Notes

• Yount set a career high with 10 blocks in the win. She's up to fourth in the ASUN with 1.06 blocks per set.
• The Dolphins had four players reach double-digit kills: McDonough, Williams, Yount and graduate student Madi Novak.
• Senior libero Kristina Nika recorded 19 digs, her fourth match in ASUN play with at least 15 digs.
• Novak recorded her second double-double of the season, adding 11 digs to her 11 kills.

Coach's Comments
"I am very proud of the grit and determination this team showed today," head coach Alicia Manguiat said. "It was no one player, it was every single person that contributed. FGCU is a very good team and we battled until the very end."

Up Next
The Dolphins will travel back to Jacksonville, but not to the friendly confines of Swisher Gymnasium. They will face crosstown rivals North Florida in the road leg of the River City Rumble, Thursday, Oct. 30, at 7 PM.