Volleyball Breezes Past Norfolk State, 3-0

Wednesday, November 2

Harrisonburg, Va.

James Madison University

18-8

Norfolk State

8-14

Norfolk State

James Madison

11/2/2011 11:17:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va., Nov. 2, 2011 – James Madison volleyball outhit its opponent .341 to -.063 led by seven kills in 10 attempts from sophomore middle blocker Kelly Maguire (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) to earn a 3-0 win over Norfolk State at Sinclair Gymnasium/Godwin Hall on Wednesday evening.

JMU won by set scores of 25-14, 25-17, 25-19, to improve to 18-8 overall while dropping NSU to 8-14 on the season.

“We came out strong in the first set and played high-level volleyball on our side of the net,” head volleyball coach Lauren Steinbrecher said. “We passed really well and made smart plays. It was a complete performance from our starters and our bench tonight.”

Maguire hit .600 for the evening, committing just one error against seven kills in 10 attempts while adding a match-high four blocks. Redshirt junior outside hitter Natalie Abel (Washington, Pa./Trinity) led all players with nine kills on .316 hitting, adding eight digs, two service aces and a block assist. Four other players collected between four and six kills led by junior outside hitter Danielle Erb (Tampa, Fla./Plant) with six kills, two digs, two blocks and an assist.

Sophomore libero Katie Daorai (Tampa, Fla./Plant) had a match-high nine digs in just two sets played. Redshirt freshman Kristi Richardson (Glen Allen, Va./Heritage) led the Dukes to their .341 hitting percentage with 34 assists while adding three digs, two blocks, two kills and two aces. Freshman middle blocker Lizzy Briones (Siloam Springs, Ark./Siloam Springs) hit .667 with four kills in six attempts.

The Spartans were led by Charlotte Armstead with six kills, three blocks, two aces and a dig. Beatriz Ferreira chipped in four kills, but committed seven errors for just a -.136 attack percentage. Tracey Copley led the team with seven digs while setter Kristen Burt collected 13 assists, three digs and a block. Jasmine Ferreira had a match-high three aces and added three kills.

The Dukes won the blocking battle 8.5 to 6.0 and collected eight aces to NSU's seven.

In the opening set, Norfolk State used an early three-point run to take a 4-3 lead. The Dukes responded by winning seven of the next eight points to retake the lead at 10-5 and never looked back. The Spartans got as close as two points, but Madison won 15 of the final 24 points to take a quick 1-0 lead. Abel set the tone for JMU with seven kills in nine attempts to hit .778. Daorai led all players with five digs.