Xavier University Athletics
Xavier University
Jacksonville State<br>(Hurricanes Invitational)
Xavier Takes First Game of Hurricanes Invitational
09.10.05 | Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2005
Box Score
CORAL GABLES, Fla. - In the opening game of the Hurricanes Invitational, Xavier defeated Jacksonville State in three games by scores of 30-25, 30-25 and 30-28. The Musketeers are now 6-1 on the season, while the Gamecocks fall to 2-4 overall.
With the score 10-10 in game one, XU mounted a 12-6 run to take the 22-16 advantage but JSU would charge back to cut the lead to 25-22 after costly reception errors by the Musketeers. The two teams would exchange points the rest of the way as Xavier held on to take the first game, 30-25. Junior Astyn Bjorklund continued her great play as the middle totaled six kills on 10 swings for a .500 hitting percentage. Freshman Jenn Welsh dished out seven assists and had five digs in the opening stanza. Jacksonville State notched five aces in the game to keep XU in check on the back line but Xavier held the advantage at the net with one solo block and 12 block assists compared to only one solo block for JSU.
It was back and forth for most of the second game until Xavier broke an 11-11 tie with a 7-2 run to take an 18-13 advantage. Jacksonville State answered with a 10-7 run to pull back to 25-23 but that is as close as the Gamecocks would get as XU recorded five of the last seven points to take game two, 30-25. Senior Kate Duchek notched five kills in the game, while Welsh posted nine assists and added four more digs.
The third game found Jacksonville State leading the entire game but the Gamecocks could never pull away by more than two points at any point. With JSU holding the lead since a 5-5 tie, a kill by Danielle Skrajewski finally restored parity again at 17-17 and from there the game would see 12 more ties and three lead changes. Xavier would finally take the lead with the score 21-20 off of a block by Duchek and Welsh and XU took the lead for good off an ace by Jordan Brightwell to make it 29-28. Xavier's largest lead of the match came at the very end when the Musketeers claimed the two-point victory, 30-28, off a Duchek kill.
Duchek led XU with a match-high 17 kills on a .484 hitting percentage. Juniors Bjorklund and Skrajewski each totaled 11 kills in the match with Bjorklund hitting at a .409 clip to go along with five block assists, while Skrajewski had a .333 hitting percentage with four blocks and six digs. Welsh and Brightwell each hit double-digit digs with 12 and 10, respectively. Welsh's 12 digs were a career-high and she also dished out 32 assists.
The Musketeers will return to the court tonight against the host Hurricanes. Xavier and Miami will square off at 7:30 pm in the championship match as both teams stand 1-0 on the weekend.
