HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison volleyball dropped a back-and-forth battle, 3-2, to Coastal Carolina on Friday night at the Convocation Center.

The visitors from Conway, South Carolina, struck first tonight, taking a 25-19 set one victory to open the Sun Belt match. Quickly recovering, JMU (10-11, 5-6 SBC) responded by taking the following two sets, 25-16 and 25-18, but the Dukes weren’t out of the woods yet. Down 2-1 in sets, CCU (10-11, 5-6 SBC) stormed back to take the final two frames, 25-22 and 17-15.

Kennedy Louisell led JMU with a season-high 39 points on 34 kills. This marks Louisell’s third match this year in which she recorded 30 or more points. She also finished with 10 digs, marking her eighth double-double of the season.

Looking at team stats, JMU recorded a slightly better .304 team hitting percentage to Coastal Carolina’s .287 rate. At the net, CCU out-blocked the Dukes, 13-7.

JMU and CCU return to the Convocation Center tomorrow at 1 p.m. for a conference rematch.

How We Got Here
Set One – JMU 19, Coastal Carolina 25
-The weekend’s opening set saw JMU and the visiting Chanticleers trade scores until a 3-0 run gave CCU a 11-8 lead.
-The Dukes stayed on Coastal’s heels before another scoring swing by CCU ballooned their lead to 20-14.
-Coastal would go on to grab a 25-19 set one win.

Set Two – JMU 25, Coastal Carolina 16
-Featuring five early points from Louisell, JMU kicked off the second set jumping out to a 10-3 lead.
-With JMU recording a stellar .341 team hitting percentage in the set, Coastal could not keep pace with the Dukes after falling behind.
-JMU would claim a 25-16 set two victory.

Set Three – JMU 25, Coastal Carolina 18
-Tonight’s third set resembled the first in that it was a back-and-forth affair for the opening ten points either team scored.
-Before either squad reached double digits, the Dukes built an arm’s length lead thanks to a 3-0 scoring run.
-Up 15-12 at the media timeout, JMU extended its advantage to seven before trading scores the rest of the way.
-The Dukes took the third set 25-18.

Set Four – JMU 22, Coastal Carolina 25
-Highlighted by four lead changes and five ties, the fourth frame continued to stay competitive.
-CCU was the first team to reach the 15-point mark, but the Dukes were just behind with 13.
-Coming out of the media break, JMU strung together a 7-2 scoring run to jump in front 20-17.
-Before James Madison could close it out, CCU went on an 8-2 scoring run to steal a 25-22 set four win from the Dukes.

Set Five – JMU 15, Coastal Carolina 17
-It not only took a fifth set to decide tonight’s match; the final frame saw the teams surpass the 15-point mark before someone could be declared the winner.
-JMU opened the finale building a tight two-point advantage, but CCU was right there with the Dukes.
-Locked at 12-12, the two teams traded blows before a 2-0 scoring run secured the Chanticleers a fifth-set victory.

Match Notes
-Following Louisell in scoring tonight was Ayen Nhial with 14.5 points from a career-high 13 kills.
-Brenna Corbin recorded a career-high six digs and three service aces.
-Louisell has recorded double digit points in all 21 matches this season.

— JMU Athletics —