Dukes Shutout William and Mary, 3-0, for 12th Straight Win

Thursday, October 22

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

19-3 (9-0CAA)

William & Mary

8-14 (2-7CAA)

Team	1	2	3	Final F
William & Mary	22	14	19	0
James Madison	25	25	25	3

Game Notes

10/22/2015 9:55:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - The James Madison volleyball team swept William and Mary (25-22, 25-14, 25-19) Thursday night in the opener of a five-game home stand. The Dukes' victory pushed their win streak to 12 matches and advanced their season record to 19-3 (9-0 CAA) as the Tribe fell to 8-14 (2-7 CAA) overall.

The Dukes fought back from an early 6-1 deficit in the first set with a five-point serving run led by Sierra Hahn-Ventrell, knotting it at 6-6. After trading points, JMU took the lead for good with a six-point run, putting the Tribe out of reach.

Madison continued the momentum into the second set, jumping to an 11-2 lead highlighted by another five-point serving run headed by Hahn-Ventrell. The Dukes extended the gap to 22-13, forcing a William and Mary timeout, but JMU claimed three of the last four points to win the set.

The Tribe fought to stay alive in set three and pushed out to a four-point advantage at 12-8, but JMU responded to take the set-three lead at 19-18 in the midst of a seven-point run led by Patterson on the serve. The Dukes claimed 10 of the final 11 points to clinch the shutout.

Junior Janey Goodman led the Dukes with 18 kills and a team-best .371 hitting percentage (18-5-35). Senior Sarah Patterson paced the JMU offense with 30 assists and sophomore Taylor Austin led the defense with 10 digs. Junior Kelly Robertson posted five blocks on the night.

Quoting Lauren Steinbrecher
"Every win in the CAA is a big win and tonight was no different. William and Mary is another great conference opponent and it was big for us to pull that one out in three. Janey had another impressive performance and I thought Sierra had another huge night serving."

Turning Point
The Tribe kept the Dukes off the board for the first four points of the game to begin of a 7-2 opening run. Back-and-forth scoring kept the game close late into the set. Trailing 18-16, James Madison won six straight points after a timeout to take the lead at 21-18. The Dukes maintained the edge, claiming set one.

Senior Spotlight
Sierra Hahn-Ventrell led the Dukes on two serving runs in set one, including the six-point run that lifted JMU to a set-one victory. She came off the bench in set two, serving the Dukes to a four-point run that extended the lead to 11-2.

Play of the Game
Senior Meghan Niski clinches the 3-0 victory with a match point ace.

Tweet of the Game

.@JMUVolleyball Another outstanding effort & another conference W! You are imposing your will on every point. #GoDukes #Relentless
— James Hickey (@PressBoxGuy) October 23, 2015

Last Time it Happened
The last time the Dukes were off to a 19-3 start was in 1999. At that time, the Dukes were also undefeated in conference play with a record of 8-0.

Up Next
The Dukes return to action Saturday, October 24 to take on the Phoenix of Elon in another CAA match-up, the game is slated for a 7:30 start time. Elon is currently on a two game win streak with a 5-17 (1-7 CAA) record.