Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky’s volleyball team stormed back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Jacksonville State, 3-2, on Saturday at McBrayer Arena. The Colonels had only 11 kills in the first two games combined, but rebounded with 12 kills in a 25-8 set three victory and totaled 29 kills over the final three sets.

Game scores were 20-25, 20-25, 25-8, 25-17 and 15-11.

EKU (3-13, 2-5 OVC) was led by Lindsey Loescher's 17 kills. The junior added six digs and two aces. Senior Amanda Wilson finished with 15 kills, a .333 attack percentage and four blocks. Sophomore Abby O'Connor posted a match-high 21 digs. Sophomore Kate Hendle added a match-high 33 assists. Freshman Hannah Groudle contributed four blocks.

The Gamecocks (6-12, 2-5 OVC) were led by Caitlin Vorbeck’s 20 kills and .213 attack percentage. Brittney Whitten added 13 kills and 12 digs.

Jacksonville State only trailed once in the first two sets on its way to a 2-0 lead. JSU never trailed in the first set. Vorbeck’s kill made it 10-5. An attack error by the Colonels pushed the visitor’s lead to 17-10. Eastern Kentucky closed to within four, 19-15, on a JSU attack error and made it a three-point difference, 21-18, on a Gamecock ball handling error. Eastern wouldn’t get any closer and fell behind 1-0 when Loescher’s attack error ended the set 25-20.

Back-to-back Gamecock attack errors early in the second set gave the Colonels a brief 3-2 advantage, but JSU scored the next two points and never trailed again before the break. A kill by Loescher made it a 12-10 score in favor of Jacksonville State. Loescher tied it at 15-15 with another kill. Three straight kills by Whitten gave JSU a three-point cushion, 19-16. A kill by Vorbeck gave the Gamecocks a second set 25-20 victory and a 2-0 lead.

After intermission, Eastern Kentucky came out and grabbed an 8-1 lead and cruised to a 25-8 victory in the third set. Eastern hit .357 with 12 kills and only two errors in the third frame. JSU had seven errors and only five kills. After a kill by Vorbeck brought the Gamecocks to within five, 12-7, the Colonels went on a 13-1 run to end the set. Wilson contributed five kills to the run.

Eastern Kentucky kept up its stellar play in the fourth set, winning 13 of the first 17 points. An ace by Groudle followed by a JSU attack error had the Colonels leading 13-4. Back-to-back EKU attack errors allowed the Gamecocks to close the gap to four, 15-11. Eastern won the next four points, three of which came off JSU errors, and Jacksonville State never threatened again. EKU won the fourth set, 25-17, to tie the match at 2-2.

After hitting .000 in the first two sets, the Colonels posted .300-plus attack percentages in the second two sets. Jacksonville State committed 12 attack errors in the fourth set.

Kills by Wilson and Loescher helped Eastern Kentucky race out to a 5-1 lead in the decisive fifth set. Two Gamecock errors extended the lead to 11-3. Another JSU attack error gave the Colonels match-point at 14-6. Jacksonville State won five straight points to close the gap to 14-11, but a service error by the visitors ended the match and completed the EKU comeback.

Jacksonville State hit below .000 in each of the final three sets and finished with a 0.45 attack percentage for the game. Eastern Kentucky hit .150 for the match.

The Colonels will finish off their four-match home stand with matches on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, rival Morehead State visits McBrayer Arena at 7 p.m. On Friday, Southern Illinois Edwardsville makes its first appearance in Richmond at 7 p.m.