JMU VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS LOYOLA 3-0

Friday, September 10

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7:30 p.m.

James Madison University

Loyola (Md.)

9/11/2010 1:36:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va., Sept. 10, 2010 - Senior Jessica Zeroual (Ottawa, Ont./De La Salle) had a match-high 13 kills on 14 attempts to hit .929 and lead the Dukes to a 3-0 win over Loyola (Md.) in James Madison's opening match of the JMU Days Inn Invitational at Sinclair Gymnasium/Godwin Hall on Friday.

The Dukes won by set scores of 25-18, 25-20 and 25-20 to run their record to 5-2. JMU improved to 4-0 at home, winning all four matches by 3-0 scores. Loyola dropped to 4-5 with the loss.

"I was proud of (my team), especially our middles who did a great job getting the ball to the middle," said head coach Lauren Steinbrecher. "Jess had 13 kills on 14 attempts and Turner had a great night too, so I'm really proud of my middles."

Zeroual's 13 kills were just two shy of her career-high of 15, set last season against Duquesne. She also added a block to finish with 13.5 points. Joining Zeroual with double digit kills were senior Lindsay Callahan (Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown) and junior Kelly Turner (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) with 10 each. Turner also added a match-high four blocks. Sophomore Natalie Abel (Washington, Pa./Trinity) had a match-high 11 digs and chipped in seven kills on .312 hitting.

As a team, JMU outhit Loyola .391 to .145 and had six blocks to the Greyhounds' none.

Jac Bullock led Loyola with 10 kills on .353 hitting. Nicole Sarby added six kills, two assists and two digs while Brittany Born led the Greyhounds with seven digs. Aubrey Kirven had a match-high 27 assists.

Madison jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the opening set, forcing a Loyola timeout. Out of the timeout, the Greyhounds won five of the next six points to even the score and forcing Steinbrecher to ask for time. Abel and Turner combined to serve the Dukes to eight of the next nine points and a 15-8 lead. Loyola would not get closer than six points for the remainder of the set as sophomore Danielle Erb (Tampa, Fla./Plant) put the match with a kill.

In set two, JMU again raced out to an early 6-3 lead. The teams traded points for a couple points before a Loyola 5-1 run gave it a 13-12 lead. The Dukes responded with a 9-3 run of their own to take a 21-16 lead and forcing another Greyhound timeout. The teams went back and forth before Turner put the