Dukes Cruise to 3-0 Sweep at Northeastern

Saturday, November 15

Boston, Mass.

4 p.m.

James Madison University

16-13, 8-8CAA

Northeastern

10-20, 2-14CAA

James Madison

Northeastern

11/15/2014 5:50:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. - The James Madison volleyball team racked up 50 kills in three sets on Saturday afternoon, as the Dukes went on the road to sweep Northeastern 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-19) to wrap up their regular season.

Sophomore Janey Goodman (Powhatan, Va./Powhatan) and junior Meghan Niski (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) both racked up 15 kills in just three sets, with neither outside hitter needing more than 40 attacks to accomplish the feat.

Junior setter Sarah Patterson also tallied her sixth double-double of the season for the Dukes (16-13, 8-8 CAA) with 38 assists and 13 digs. Her 38 assists gives her 1,028 for the season, making her the first Duke to break the 1,000-assist barrier since Lauren Miles notched 1,159 during the 2008 season.

The Dukes jumped ahead early, taking a 4-1 lead in the opening set. Northeastern would never get closer than two for the remainder of the set, as JMU used a six-point run to extend its lead until the Dukes closed things out at 25-17.

In the second set, the teams battled back and forth until an 8-3 run from the Dukes, including a trio of kills from Goodman, put JMU up 12-7. The Huskies battled back to tie things at 12-12 and the teams traded points. The Dukes finally scored four straight to take a 21-16 lead and never looked back until a kill from senior middle blocker Lizzy Briones (Siloam Springs, Ark./Siloam Springs) wrapped up the frame at 25-22.

The teams kept it tight early in the third but with the set knotted at 10-10, three straight kills by the Dukes gave them a 13-10 lead. Leading 19-16, Goodman recorded a kill, followed by a block assist with teammate freshman middle blocker Connor Beightol (Richmond, Va./Deep Run), to put JMU ahead 21-16. From there NU never drew closer than four as Niski closed the match with a kill to give the Dukes a 25-19 triumph.

JMU was very consistent defensively, holding the Huskies to a .193 attack percentage across the three sets. Freshman Taylor Austin (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) racked up a match-high 21 digs, while Patterson's 13 gave the Dukes a pair of double-digit performers.

Freshman Brigitte Burcescu led the offense for Northeastern with 11 kills, while senior Natalie Skiba tallied 16 digs.

The Dukes will be back in action next weekend at the six-team CAA Tournament, where they will be the sixth seed. The tournament is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 21 through Sunday, Nov. 23.