HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – The James Madison volleyball team won its eighth straight match in dramatic fashion, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to knock off Georgia Southern 3-2 (25-17, 13-25, 20-25, 25-23, 15-11) on Friday evening inside the Convocation Center.
With the win, JMU improved to 15-6 and 8-1 in Sun Belt play, moving into sole possession of first place in the East Division. Georgia Southern fell to 16-4 and 7-2 in league play.
Defensively, Julia McNeley had 21 digs, her fourth match with 20-plus digs this season. The Dukes had 11 blocks, led by Anna Wilson (6) and Ayen Nhial (5). After Georgia Southern hit .289 in the opening three sets, JMU held the Eagles to .184 in the final two.
Kennedy Louisell paced the Dukes with 19 kills – including the final three in the fifth set – and a season-high 14 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. Freshman Ana Toumazatos had 14 kills, while sophomore Ayen Nhial hit .353 with a season-high nine kills.
Reagan Barth led Georgia Southern with 15 kills, while Maggie Sale had 12 kills. Alex Myers hit .500 with 11 kills, while Lydia Seymour led the Eagles with six blocks.
How It Happened
First Set: James Madison 25-17
• It was back and forth early, as a kill from Addie Norman put the Dukes ahead 15-14 at the media timeout.
• After the timeout, JMU dominated the rest of the set, using a 10-2 run to take a commanding 1-0 lead.
Second Set: Georgia Southern 25-13
• Georgia Southern bounced back in the second to even the match at 1-1, hitting .500 as a team and holding JMU to .091.
Third Set: Georgia Southern 25-20
• The Eagles pounced on JMU early as a kill from Reagan Barth gave Georgia Southern a 10-4 lead.
• The Dukes battled back to tie the set at 18-18 on a block from Ayen Nhial and Melisa Ilter.
• Georgia Southern regained its footing and closed the set on a 7-2 run to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Fourth Set: James Madison 25-23
• After an early timeout from Georgia Southern, the Eagles rallied to take a 17-16 lead on a pair of kills from Barth.
• Tied at 17-17, a 4-1 spurt from JMU gave the Dukes a 21-18 lead as the Eagles called a timeout.
• Georgia Southern cut the JMU lead to one (22-21), but the Dukes held off the Eagles to secure the fourth and force a fifth.
Fifth Set: James Madison 15-11
• A kill from Sam Bowron gave the visitors an 8-5 lead as the teams switched sides.
• The momentum swung to JMU as the Dukes scored six of seven points to go ahead 11-9 on a kill from Toumazatos.
• A kill from Georgia Southern’s Alex Myers cut the JMU lead to 13-11, but Louisell picked up two kills to secure the victory for the Dukes.
Match Notes
• JMU improved to 7-4 against Georgia Southern and 3-0 in five-set matches this season.
• Louisell finished with 19 kills and sits at 417 for the season, needing just one kill to surpass Allyson Halls’ 418 kills on the JMU single-season list.
• Julia McNeley finished with 21 digs, finishing with 20 or more in a match for the fourth time this season.
• Nhial’s nine kills were a season high, surpassing her previous best of eight against Lehigh on Sept. 7.
• Ilter also tied her season-high in kills, finishing with nine. She also had nine against Florida Gulf Coast on Aug. 31.
Up Next
James Madison will look for its ninth straight league win tomorrow, as the Dukes will take on Georgia Southern at 1 p.m. inside the Convocation Center for Senior Day.
— JMU Athletics —
