Volleyball Wins Five-Set Thriller Over Lehigh, 3-2

Friday, September 2

Harrisonburg, Va.

James Madison University

2-2

Lehigh

1-1

Lehigh

James Madison

9/3/2011 1:38:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va., Sept. 2, 2011 – Freshman outside hitter Lizzy Briones(Siloam Springs, Ark./Siloam Springs) hit a match-high .591 with 13 kills in 22 attempts and added five blocks and six digs to help lead the James Madison volleyball team to a 3-2 win over Lehigh in the opening game of the JMU Days Inn Invitational at Sinclair Gymnasium/Godwin Hall on Friday.

JMU won by set scores of 25-16, 25-27, 25-19, 16-25 and 15-9 to improve to 2-2 on the season and 2-1 in five-set matches. Lehigh dropped to 1-1 this season and 0-1 in the tournament.

“I thought we did a really nice job,” head coach Lauren Steinbrecher said. “There were a few plays where I thought we were young and inexperienced, but other than that I thought we did a good job. I was excited to come out with a win and have confidence and determination to know we are going to win fifth-set matches this year.”

Briones did not commit an error in the game to collect the Dukes' highest hitting percentage since Jessica Zeroual (2007-10) hit .929 in a match against Loyola (Md.) on Sept. 10, 2010. Senior outside hitter Holly Wall (Kaukauna, Wisc./Kaukauna) added a team-high 16 kills and 10 digs for her first double-double of the year. Redshirt junior Natalie Abel (Washington, Pa./Trinity) chipped in with 14 kills on .364 hitting and had nine digs while sophomore libero Katie Daorai (Tampa, Fla./Plant) had 18 digs. Junior setter Megan Wiechmann (Sunland, Calif./Village Christian) combined with redshirt freshman Kristi Richardson (Glen Allen, Va./Hermitage) to finish with 50 assists, 12 digs, five kills and four blocks.

Lehigh was paced by Angelika Kopacz who collected a double-double with a match-high 19 kills and 13 digs. Courtney McCutchan and Paige Kruse had 11 and 10 kills, respectively while Jessica Kudirka led all players with 45 assists. McCutchan added 14 digs for a double-double and Rachel Charles had a match-high 21 digs.

The Dukes held a 13-to-4 lead in blocks led by sophomore middle blocker Kelly Maguire (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) with eight, including three solos. JMU also bested the Mountain Hawks in attack percentage .269-to-.129, but had just two aces to Lehigh's 11.

In the opening set of the night, the Mountain Hawks took an early lead at 5-3 before the Dukes went on a 4-0 run to take a lead they would not relinquish. JMU stretched its advantage to 15-10 and 20-15 before closing the set on a 5-1 run to cruise to the first-set victory. Abel led the team with four kills on eight attempts while tying Daorai for a set-high six digs.<>