JMU RALLIES FOR 3-1 VOLLEYBALL WIN OVER LIBERTY

Tuesday, September 19

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

7-5

Liberty

2-9

Liberty

James Madison

9/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va., Sept. 19, 2006 - Four James Madison University players established various career-highs as the Dukes rallied from a game one loss to defeat Liberty University 3-1 in Sinclair Gymnasium.

JMU (7-5) defeated Liberty (2-9) by game scores of 31-33, 30-25, 30-23, and 30-25. The Dukes set team season-highs with 75 kills, 70 assists, and 17 total blocks. It was the first four-game match of the season for the Dukes, who were previously 6-2 in three-game matches and 0-3 in five-game contests. It was also the first mid-week match of the season for JMU.

Junior Allyson Halls (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy) hit at a .378 percentage with a career-high 21 kills and just four errors on 45 attempts. Halls also set career-highs with 10 total blocks (one solo and nine assists) and 26.5 total points (6.63 points/game). Sophomore setter Lauren Miles (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Prep) accumulated a career-high 63 assists for a 15.75 assists/game average. She also notched three kills, two aces, eight digs, and four block assists.

Senior Hanna Porterfield (Arlington, Va./Bishop O'Connell) added to the JMU effort with a season-high 15 kills, five digs, and a career-high seven blocks. Freshman Nicole Fenner (Duluth, Ga./Wesleyan) had her first career double-double by tying her career-high of 17 kills and collecting 11 digs. Junior Jena Pierson (San Antonio, Texas/James Madison) entered the match ranked ninth nationally with 6.33 digs per game and maintained that average after tallying a team-high 25 digs. It was her ninth time in 12 matches with 20 or more digs. Senior Amanda Snead (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) added 13 digs.

Liberty's attack was led by sophomore Allyson Sanders (Bear, Del./Charter School of Wilmington) with 17 kills, nine digs, and four blocks. Sophomore Kendall Nichols (Hoover, Ala./Hoover) had a double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs while junior Mary Alice Pike (Durham, N.C./Cresset Christian Academy) narrowly missed a double-double with 11 kills and nine digs.

Setter Kallie Corbin (Beaverton, Ore./Westview) had an impressive outing with 48 assists and 25 digs for a double-double. Junior libero Lara Bartolomeo (Huntington Beach, Calif./Calvary Chapel) was right behind her teammate with 23 digs.

In the first game, JMU pulled ahead to a lead as large as six at 17-11, but LU fought back to pull within 18-17 and rallied further for a 23-20 lead. The teams fought through six lead changes and 10 ties, including the last at 31-31 before the Dukes committed back-to-back attack errors to give the Flames the win.

JMU held the lead for much of the second game, pulling out to an 11-3 advantage early. However, LU fought back to within two at 12-10 and eventually tied the score at 16-16. The Flames kept it close with the score tied at 25-25 when Fenner collected three consecutive kills to push the Dukes in front as JMU won 30-25.

Game three stayed tight with neither team pulling away by more than three points until JMU went on a five-point run after holding a 24-22 lead to take control of the game and record a 30-23