FINAL STATS

JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State volleyball team closed its 2010 regular season on Saturday with a 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23) win over Eastern Illinois, the Gamecocks' fourth in a row.

On Senior Day at Pete Mathews Coliseum, the Gamecocks (16-13, 11-7 Ohio Valley Conference) controlled the first two sets before falling to the Panthers (15-16m 7-11 OVC) in the third. JSU was able to pull out a back-and-forth fourth set that saw 18 ties and four lead changes and secured the No. 3 seed in next week's OVC Tournament in Morehead, Ky.

In her final match at home in a JSU uniform, senior Caitlin Vorbeck knocked down a team-high 14 kills and picked up 14 digs. It was the sixth double-double of the season for the Raytown, Mo., native and the second in as many matches. She runs her career kills total to 1,332, three away from Amanda Sandlin in fourth place, while surpassing the 600-dig plateau.

Fellow senior Kara Slater also had a big afternoon for the Gamecocks. The Colorado Springs, Colo., native put back eight of JSU's 14.5 blocks, while using a .421 attack percentage to lead her to nine kills on just 19 swings. Junior Liza Senenkova pitched in five blocks up front, while junior Stephanie Koontz added four.

Junior Lauren Harkins led all players with 19 digs a number that moved the Louisville, Ky., native into second on the school's career list. In just three seasons, she passed Brittney Whitten and her 1,693 career digs trails only Kisha West's 1,745.

Senior Brooke Schumacher, who became the school's career assists leader on Friday, dished out 27 in Saturday's win, while adding six digs on the back row. Freshman Abbey Heredia added 15 assists and seven digs for the Gamecocks.

The Panthers were led by Erin Hake's 15 kills and Alex Zwettler's 15 digs. Chrissie Albers dished 47 of EIU's 50 assists.

The Gamecocks will open the six-team OVC Tournament on Thursday against the No. 6 seed. The single-elimination event will be held on the campus of regular season champion Morehead State in Morehead, Ky., and its winner will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.