JMU Closes Season, Falls to Charleston in CAA Semifinals

Saturday, November 21

Harrisonburg, Va.

5:00 PM

James Madison University

22-8

College of Charleston

20-12

Col. of Charleston

James Madison

JMU Closes Season, Falls to Charleston in CAA Semifinals

11/21/2015 7:36:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Top-seeded James Madison fell to No. 5 College of Charleston (19-25, 25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 13-15) in a five-set Colonial Athletic Association semifinal battle Saturday night, closing the 2015 season with a 22-8 record. Charleston (20-12) advanced to the championship, where it will face the winner of the #2 Towson vs. #3 UNCW matchup.

Junior right side hitter Janey Goodman posted a career-high 31 kills to become the first Duke since 2007 to have 30 or more kills in a match.

Senior Sarah Patterson closed a record-filled career with 42 assists. Sophomore Taylor Austin led the defense with 16 digs, and freshman Taylor Gail tallied eight blocks, seven assisted and one solo.

JMU battled late in the first set tying at the 15-15 mark but fell after a 7-1 run by the Cougars.

In set two, the Dukes broke away after a timeout, led by junior middle hitter Kelly Robertson with three kills to give Madison a 20-18 lead. JMU capitalized on back-to-back Charleston attack errors to finish the set.

James Madison fought back from a 19-16 deficit to claim six straight points with Patterson at serve for a 21-19 advantage. Goodman closed the set with a trio of kills to claim the match lead at two sets to one.

Charleston took a 16-11 lead in the fourth set and maintained its advantage to take the set and force the decisive fitth set.

After a JMU timeout in the final set, Charleston took a 10-9 on a three-point run. A block by Taylor Gail and Goodman evened the field at 12-12, but the Dukes fell to a 14-12 gap in the next two points. Charleston's Madison Kennedy capped the match with a kill.

Photo of the Game
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Back and Forth Battles
There were a total of 41 ties in the five-set match with eleven apiece in the first and third match.

Senior Spotlight
The JMU senior class closes its career with a 65-53 record, highlighted by the best start to a season since 1999 with a 21-3 and 11-0 CAA record in 2015. Contributing to that record was a 14-game win streak from Sept. 18-Oct. 25, the first time a streak of 14 games or more was reached since 1987. The senior class led JMU to its first CAA regular-season title since 2000 and tournament hosting rights since 2002.

Rising the Record Boards
With 31 kills on 69 taken attacks, Goodman moved to fifth in the JMU all-time season kills with 468 and into first of the all-time season attempts with 1,255. The right side hitter also moved up to seventh in all-time career kills with 1,164 and fifth in all-time career attack attempts with 3,114.

Patterson made her way into ninth on the all-time season assists list with 48 on the night and 1,170 on the season.

In her rookie season, Bryn Recker tied for eighth in all-time season aces with 47.

Tweet of the Game

.@JMUVolleyball So proud of your accomplishments this season. You all have fun to watch and an honor to work for. #MuchLove #GoDukes
— James Hickey (@PressBoxGuy) November 22, 2015