TEAM EFFORT LEADS JMU VOLLEYBALL PAST STETSON 3-0

Friday, August 27

Home

7:00 p.m.

James Madison University

1-0

Stetson

0-1

Stetson

JMU

8/28/2010 12:40:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va., Aug. 27, 2010 - Senior Jessica Zeroual (Ottawa, Ont./De La Salle) collected nine kills and six blocks and sophomore Danielle Erb (Tampa, Fla./Plant) had 13 kills and six digs to lead an all-around James Madison effort as the volleyball Dukes downed Stetson 3-0 in the opening game of the JMU Coca Cola-Classic at Sinclair Gymnasium/Godwin Hall on Friday.

JMU won by set scores of 25-17, 25-12 and 28-26 to improve to 1-0 on the 2010 campaign. Stetson dropped to 0-1.

"I'm so proud of our girls," said head coach Lauren Steinbrecher. "Our team was ready to play, they were excited to be here and we have four seniors that provided great leadership all preseason and that really showed out there today."

For coach Steinbrecher it was her first career win as a head coach after taking over the head job in Harrisonburg back in January.

Erb led all players in kills with 13 and was joined in double figure kills by senior outside hitter Lindsay Callahan (Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown) who had 10 to go with five digs and three block assists. Zeroual had a match-high six blocks, including four solos, to go with nine kills. Senior setter Lauren Fanelli (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) just missed a double-double with 23 assists and nine digs. Sophomore outside hitter Natalie Abel (Washington, Pa./Trinity) and junior libero Holly Wall (Kaukauna, Wisc./Kaukauna) tied for a match-high with 13 digs apiece. As a team, JMU outhit the Hatters .287 to .057.

Kaley Melville led Stetson with six kills on .222 hitting to go with seven digs and one assist. Ellen Hawks collected three kills on .167 hitting and libero Monique Russell added 17 digs.

The opening set was tight with the Hatters taking a 14-15 lead before JMU won nine straight points on the serve of junior Kelly Turner (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) to open up a 23-15 advantage. In total, the Dukes won 11 of the final 13 points to win the set 25-17. Madison hit .343 in the set and converted 12 of 18 sideouts. Callahan hit .500 and collected four kills to lead JMU.

In set two, the Dukes jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and led from wire to wire to win 25-12. After the Hatters cut the lead to 3-2, Madison won nine of the next 11 points to extend its lead to 12-4. Stetson got as close as 14-9 before losing 11 of the final 14 points. JMU outhit Stetson .387 to -.033 and was led by Erb's seven kills on .875 hitting. Zeroual added a kill and three blocks in the set.

The final set was a much tighter affair featuring 15 tie scores and seven lead changes. With Stetson leading 23-21, JMU won three straight points