KSU volleyball team fought with valiant effort, but fell in five sets (18-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 11-15) on Saturday to the Jacksonville Dolphins (7-20, 5-9 A-Sun) at the Convocation Center.
It was the final home match for seniors Turea Jones, Baylee Strachan and team manager Josh Reneau.
Jones and Strachan were honored before the game by receiving framed jerseys. Reneau was also honored before the contest.
I couldn’t be more proud of my team,” head coach Karen Weatherington said. “It was a battle down there earlier in the season and it was a battle here today.”
KSU (16-13, 5-9 A-Sun) defeated Jacksonville on the road in five sets on Oct. 5.
“If nothing else, we want our girls to learn from every opportunity on the court, and they did that today,” Weatherington said.
Jones recorded a double-double, her 10th of the season, with 16 kills and 18 digs. Strachan followed suit with 12 kills and two blocks.
“It’s such a bittersweet feeling for my seniors,” Weatherington said. “Turea plays with all her heart and Baylee is such a powerful, multifaceted weapon for us.”
Keyaira Stevenson helped with 13 kills while Camille Pedraza added 25 digs from the libero position. Sara Metroka once again handled most of the assists with 48 of the team’s 55.
The Owls won the second and fourth sets to keep up with the Dolphins and force a fifth, shortened fifth set.
In the second set, the Dolphins had four consecutive errors that helped the Owls extend to a 17-17 tie. KSU trailed 16-12 before Jones took over. Jones had six kills in the set.
KSU fell behind 4-0 in the fourth set, but returned with four straight points to start a trend of seven ties during the frame. Chade Martin had the final kill to force extra playing time.
The Owls fizzled out in the final frame, as three straight Dolphin points followed a timeout by KSU to give Jacksonville a comfortable 13-7 lead it would not relinquish.
“Josh is such an important part of what we do here every day,” Weatherington said. “He is both a student and a coach and has brought such a professional attitude day in and day out to our program.”
With the loss, the Owls finished with a 6-7 home record for the season. KSU will play four straight matches on the road, where it is 7-2, to close out the season.
The next match will be against Lipscomb onNov. 2, Northern Kentucky on Nov. 3, East Tennessee State on Nov. 6 and rival Mercer in Macon, Ga. on Nov. 8.
KSU is in a tight race for the 6th and final seed for the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship. The Owls are tied for the seventh best record in the conference at 5-9 in play with Mercer and Jacksonville. USC Upstate is a half game ahead at 5-8, and Northern Kentucky (8- 5) is ineligible because of reclassification rules.
The A-Sun Championship will begin in Nashville on Nov. 15.
