MILWAUKEE, Wis. (JMU Athletics) – Kennedy Louisell and Ana Toumazatos picked up 17 kills apiece to lead James Madison volleyball to a 23-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-15 win over Milwaukee on Friday evening inside Al McGuire Arena.
JMU (3-4) finished with a season-high .338 hitting percentage while holding Milwaukee (0-7) to .193. Toumazatos’ 17 kills are a career-high, as the freshman hit .438 with just three errors on 32 swings. Louisell notched a double-double with 17 kills and 12 digs and has tallied at least 15 kills in all seven matches this season.
Junior Anna Wilson added a career-high nine kills on 16 swings and zero errors, hitting a career-best .562. Grace Wenrich led the Dukes with 27 assists, while fellow setter Rebecca Watkins notched 24.
Defensively, Julia McNeley paced JMU with 17 digs as the senior earned the start at libero. Wilson led the Dukes in blocks, as the junior recorded four.
Josie Noble led Milwaukee with 12 kills, while Natalie Schmitz was the only other Panther to reach double-digit kills, finishing with 10. Bella Lipski totaled six blocks to lead UWM.
How It Happened
First Set: Milwaukee 25-23
• Down 7-5, JMU rattled off five straight to take a 10-7 lead and force a Milwaukee timeout.
• The Panthers battled back and tied the score at 16-16 and eventually took a 19-16 lead on a kill from Milica Tomic and a pair of JMU errors.
• The Dukes fell behind 22-18 before cutting the deficit to one (22-21) on a Milwaukee attacking error. However, JMU could not get any closer as the Panthers took the first set on a Dukes’ error.
Second Set: James Madison 25-22
• An ace from Anna Wilson gave the Dukes a 7-4 lead and made Milwaukee burn a timeout.
• Louisell recorded her ninth kill of the match to give JMU a 19-17 lead, which prompted a Panthers timeout.
• Milwaukee cut the JMU lead to one on multiple occasions. After the Panthers capitalized on an error for the Dukes to make it 23-22, kills from Toumazatos and Watkins put away UWM and evened the match at 1-1.
Third Set: James Madison 25-14
• A block from Wilson and Melisa Ilter gave the Dukes a quick 10-5 lead in the third.
• The JMU advantage swelled to seven (19-12) on a kill from Louisell.
• The Dukes ended the set on a 6-0 run to take the third in dominating fashion. JMU hit .286 in the set and held Milwaukee to .000.
Fourth Set: James Madison 25-15
• JMU jumped on Milwaukee in the fourth, going ahead 10-5 on a kill from Toumazatos.
• After a timeout from the Panthers with the score 14-9, the Dukes took control of the set, scoring on six of seven rallies to go ahead 20-10.
• JMU cruised from there, as Addie Norman registered her seventh kill of the night to give the Dukes the win.
Match Notes
• Louisell’s double-double was her fourth in a JMU uniform. She has recorded at least 15 kills in all seven matches and now has a total of 139 (5.14 per set).
• Wilson’s nine kills are a career high dating back to her time at High Point and South Carolina. Her .562 hitting percentage is also a career high.
• Toumazatos has recorded at least 10 kills in four of her last five matches and is second on JMU in kills (74) through seven matches.
• JMU improved to 1-0 in its first meeting with Milwaukee.
• The Dukes’ .338 hitting percentage is a season high. JMU also recorded just 14 attacking errors, also a season low.
Up Next
James Madison will take on Marquette on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT).
— JMU Athletics —
