JMU VOLLEYBALL FALLS AT TOWSON 3-1 IN CAA OPENER

Friday, September 25

Towson, Md.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

6-10, 0-1CAA

Towson

8-7, 1-0CAA

James Madison

Towson

9/26/2009 3:15:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

TOWSON, Md., Sept. 25, 2009 ? Towson earned consecutive set wins after dropping the opener and used a balanced offensive attack to top James Madison 3-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association volleyball opener for both teams on Friday evening in the Towson Center.

TU improved to 8-7 for the season and 1-0 in CAA play. JMU dropped to 6-10 overall and 0-1. The Tigers won by set scores of 20-25, 25-16, 25-12, and 25-14.

Four Towson players had between eight and 11 kills in a balanced effort with a .220 team attack percentage. Taylor Hawkins posted 11 kills and hit .500 to lead the way. Alysha Fanning had nine kills, two aces, and three blocks. Amanda Halls posted eight kills, seven digs, and four blocks while Britney Loomis added eight kills and five blocks. Evan Schulz accumulated 21 assists and six digs.

Sophomore Kelly Turner (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) had a match-high 15 kills with eight digs and three blocks to lead JMU. Sophomore Holly Wall (Kaukauna, Wisc./Kaukauna) added seven kills and five digs. Junior Lindsay Callahan (Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown) added five kills to move into 10^th in career kills at JMU with 882. Junior Lauren Fanelli (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) accumulated 27 assists while redshirt freshman Natalie Abel (Washington, Pa./Trinity) led all players with 15 digs.

In the opening set, JMU clung to a one-point lead when the Dukes started to pull away. Kills by Wall and Callahan put JMU up by three. After a sideout, two more points for the Dukes prompted a Towson timeout. JMU led by three at 23-20 when a TU service error and a Tigers' attack error closed the set 25-20.

Towson reversed the momentum in the very beginning of the second set with a 5-0 run and never trailed again. Another 4-0 run made it a commanding 14-7 lead, and the Dukes could get no closer than five points thereafter.

The Tigers held a 6-5 lead early in the third set wh