Dukes Split on Final Day of JMU Invite

Saturday, September 6

Harrisonburg, Va.

12:30 p.m.

James Madison University

4-2

Southeastern Louisiana

3-3

Southeastern La.

James Madison

9/6/2014 2:40:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

SELU Box Score
GW Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - The James Madison volleyball team hit .381 as a team as it rolled to a 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-13, 25-12) win over Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday afternoon at the JMU Invitational, before dropping a hard-fought 3-0 (23-25, 18-25, 22-25) loss to George Washington in the night cap.

In the first match, senior outside hitter Martha Stewart (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) led the Dukes on the attack for the second straight match, putting down 12 kills, while sophomore Janey Goodman (Powhatan, Va./Powhatan) racked up 10 kills on .409 hitting in just two sets of work.

The Dukes never trailed in the opening set, as JMU used an early 7-1 run to take a 9-3 lead before steadily pulling away to take a 25-16 victory in the opening frame. The second set was much closer, as the teams fought through 10 seperate ties. The Lions used a late 4-0 run to go up 23-19 and take the lead for the final time. Senior blocker Lizzy Briones (Siloam Springs, Ark./Siloam Springs) put down three kills in in four points, but SELU put down a kill to take the set, 25-22.

JMU stormed out to an early lead in the third set as well, using a lengthy 11-2 run to go up 16-9 and never looking back. The Dukes, who hit .429 in the frame, would eventually close out the set with a 7-1 run, aided by another pair of kills from Briones, to win the third set, 25-13. The fourth set was more of the same, as the Dukes went on a 5-0 run early to go up 12-5, before ripping off a 10-1 run to end the set, capturing the match with a 25-12 win in the final frame.

Junior setter Sarah Patterson (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley) passed out a match-high 49 assists on the day, while freshman libero Taylor Austin (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) racked up a match-high 20 digs. Patterson picked up 10 digs of her own, joining Austin and junior MacKenzie Kleespies (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove), who had 13, in double-digits. The Dukes also racked up seven team blocks, let by Briones, who tallied four blocks to go with her nine kills.

The second match was hard-fought throughout. In the first set, there was only one three-point lead between the two squads, as they traded rallied en route to 11 ties. Briones put down a kill to knot things at 23-23, but the Colonials used a pair of kills to take a 25-23 win in the frame.

The second set was a contest of rallies, as the Dukes used an early 4-0 run to go up 5-4, before GW reeled off a 7-1 run of their own to take an 11-6 advantage. JMU battled back, cutting the lead to two twice and three six times, but GW proved too much, as the Colonials pulled away with a 25-18 win.

In the final frame, the Dukes pulled out to a three-point lead on four seperate occasions, with the final one coming at 17-14. GW went on a 7-1 run to take a 21-18 lead, before JMU knotted things at 22-22 with a 4-1 run of its own. Despite the comeback, the Colonials used three straight kills to close things out at 25-22.

Briones and Goodman again led the way with 13 and 10 kills, respectively, both with .333 attack percentages on the evening. Patterson (12) and Austin (11) again posted double-digit dig performances, while the Dukes recorded 11 team blocks. For their efforts on the weekend, Briones and Goodman were both named tot he All-Tournament Team.

"We're very proud of the way we battled this weekend against some very good, evenly-matched competition," Head Coach Lauren Steinbrecher said. "We did some things very well and we found some things we can work on, so we're excited to get back to work this week and keep getting better."

JMU, which is now 4-3 on the season, will be back in action next weekend, when they head to Milwaukee, Wisc. to take part in the Marquette Invitational. The Dukes will face Marquette at 12 p.m. EST on Friday, Sept. 12, before facing UTSA (3 p.m.) and Rice (7 p.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 13.

JMU Invitational All-Tournament Team
Vendula Strakova, Hampton - MVP
Sonja Maksimovic, Hampton
Krista Kraskura, Hampton
Janey Goodman, JMU
Lizzy Briones, JMU
Maddy Doyle, George Washington
Maggie Skjelbred, George Washington