DUKES SWEEP PATRIOTS 3-0 IN CAA VOLLEYBALL FRIDAY

Friday, October 6

Fairfax, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

George Mason

10/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va., Oct. 6, 2006 – James Madison University reached a .300 attack percentage as a team for the second consecutive match and third time in 2006 in sweeping George Mason University 3-0 in Colonial Athletic Association volleyball action Friday night.

JMU improved to 11-6 overall in 2006 and 6-3 in the CAA. The Dukes won their second straight road match after starting the year 0-4 away from home. GMU fell to 5-10 overall and 2-7 in the conference. JMU won the fourth straight meeting in the series and improved to 34-28 all-time against the Patriots.

The Dukes never trailed in both games one and three, jumping out to sizable margins in both games. The Patriots led game two by a one or two point margin most of the way until the Dukes took their first lead since early in the contest at 20-19. With the score tied at 25-25,JMU took the lead on a GMU service error and junior Allyson Halls (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy) served the Dukes the rest of the way to a 30-25 win, which ended on a kill by senior Ashley Copenhaver (Hedgesville, W.Va./Hedgesville).

Halls led the Dukes with 11 kills and three service aces while hitting at a .500 percentage. Sophomore Michelle Johnson (Los Gatos, Calif./Los Gatos) also hit .500 with six kills on 12 attempts and five blocks. Freshman Nicole Fenner (Duluth, Ga./Wesleyan) hit .583 with eight kills and six digs. Copenhaver finished with seven kills and three blocks. Sophomore Lauren Miles (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Prep) had her 11^th double-double with 33 assists and 12 digs. Junior Jena Pierson (San Antonio, Texas/James Madison), who entered the match ranked sixth nationally in digs, increased her season average slightly to 6.35 digs per game with 20 for the match. It was the 14^th time in 17 matches she collected at least 20 and the seventh in a row.