Patterson's Triple-Double Lifts Dukes over Elon, 3-2

Sunday, November 2

Burlington, N.C.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

14-11 (6-6CAA)

Elon

6-22 (1-12CAA)

James Madison

Elon

11/2/2014 5:51:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

ELON, N.C. - Junior setter Sarah Patterson (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley) notched her first career triple-double to lead the James Madison volleyball team to a 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-12) win at Elon on Sunday afternoon.

Patterson, in addition to her 41 assists, racked up 10 digs and 10 kills without an error (.435 attack percentage) as the Dukes moved to 14-11 (6-6 CAA) on the season.

Junior outside hitter Meghan Niski (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) joined Patterson in the stat highlights with her eighth double-double of the season with 10 kills and a career-high 21 digs while sophomore outside hitter Janey Goodman (Powhatan, Va./Powhatan) knocked down a team-high 18 kills, which is her 16th double-digit performance this year.

In the first set, the two squads went back and forth through much of the early going before JMU took the biggest lead of the frame at 16-12. After five straight Elon points brought them back to a one-point lead, the Dukes used a 4-1 run to take the lead for good at 20-18 before closing out the set at 25-23.

The Phoenix won the first three points of the second set, but JMU responded with a 4-1 run and eventually took the lead at 8-7. The teams battled back and forth until Elon used a 10-2 run to put the set out of reach, eventually taking the set 25-20.

JMU seized the momentum out of the break, starting the third set by winning five of the first six points. The Phoenix cut the Dukes' lead to 5-3 and 6-4, but a 7-1 JMU run put the Dukes up 13-5. After another 5-0 JMU run made the lead 20-9, Elon reeled off seven straight points before the Dukes were able to close things out at 25-19.

The fourth set saw large swings back and forth, as both teams put together streaks of at least four points. After the Dukes went up 12-10, a 6-1 Elon run put the Phoenix up for good, as they closed out the frame at 25-23.

In the decisive fifth set, neither team was able to lead by more than three at any time. JMU took the lead with a 4-0 run to go up 9-6, but Elon immediately responded with four straight points that gave it a 10-9 lead. After a JMU timeout, a kill from senior Lizzy Briones (Siloam Springs, Ark./Siloam Springs) kick started a 6-2 run that closed out the Dukes' win at 15-12.

Briones tallied five block assists, giving her 403 for her career and setting a new JMU career block assists record. Briones passed Kate Fuchs, who tallied 402 from 2001-04. The senior has 460 total blocks in her career, which is second-most in JMU history and just 25 behind Fuchs, who racked up 485 in her career.

JMU had four players tally double-digit digs on the day with freshman Taylor Austin (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) racking up a career-high 24 to lead the way. Along with Niski and Patterson, senior Kristi Richardson (Glen Allen, Va./Hermitage) tallied 13, her highest total of the season.

The Dukes will be back in action next weekend when they return home for their final two matches at Sinclair Gymnasium this season. JMU will play host to Delaware at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, before wrapping up its home slate against Towson at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8.