Dukes Cap Undefeated Week With 3-1 Victory Over Hofstra

Sunday, October 23

Harrisonburg, Va.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

14-10 (6-5CAA)

Hofstra

16-7 (6-4CAA)

Hofstra

James Madison

10/23/2016 4:30:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score @JMUVolleyball Box Score Photo Gallery 2016 Statistics Highlights

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison volleyball remained perfect over its three-match home slate as the Dukes topped Hofstra 3-1 (25-23, 29-27, 25-18, 25-18) Sunday afternoon inside Sinclair Gym.

The Dukes earned their fourth consecutive victory over Hofstra in Harrisonburg to improve to 14-10 overall with a 6-5 mark in Colonial Athletic Association play. Hofstra fell to 16-7 and 6-4 in league action.

Sophomore middle blocker Taylor Gail tallied a career-high 10 kills while adding seven blocks for the Dukes. Senior right side hitter Janey Goodman headed the offense with 22 kills on 44 swings for a team-best .432 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Tilbe Yaglioglu garnered 26 assists to lead the Dukes to a .266 team clip.

The Dukes racked up a season-high 17.0 blocks against the Pride as senior middle blocker Kelly Robertson tallied a match-high 10 blocks, finishing in double-digits for her second match of the season. Freshman outside hitter Briley Brind'Amour added a career-best six blocks. Junior libero Taylor Austin topped the defense with 27 digs.

Holding a 16-17 lead over Hofstra in a tightly contested opening set that featured 14 ties, JMU used a 3-0 run after two Duke blocks and a Goodman kill to extend a four-point lead over the Pride. Hofstra used a 3-0 run of its own to pull back within one, 23-22, but a couple of Recker kills powered JMU to a 25-23 victory.

Hofstra faced set point in the second stanza after using a late 4-0 run to take a 24-21 advantage over the Dukes. JMU fought off four set points to lock the match up at 24-all. The Pride took set advantages on three separate occasions as the Dukes continued to fight off the decisive point. With the set locked at 27-all, back-to-back Duke attacking errors gave Hofstra the edge and evened the match.

James Madison took an 8-7 advantage over the Pride in the third set after a Hofstra service error. Powered by seven kills from Goodman and three blocks the Dukes cruised to a 25-18 victory, taking a 2-1 lead over the Pride. JMU held a nine-point lead over Hofstra late in the fourth set, 23-14, before the Pride went on a 4-0 run to slice the Duke lead to 23-18. Gail hammered home a kill while Robertson and senior outside hitter Kate Whitmire combined for a block to secure JMU's third consecutive conference victory.

QUOTING COACH STEINBRECHER
"I am so pleased with the team. They have worked so hard. What I am most impressed with is that we have continued to improve. We are better than we were the first round of the season. The first round of the season we were better than we were preseason. We still have a couple more levels to go, but I am really pleased that we continue to execute and continue to improve."

PHOTO OF THE MATCH - VIEW FULL GALLERY

Fans participated in the first ever JMU volleyball streamer toss during the set-two break.

BLOCK PARTY
James Madison continues its impressive performance at the net as the Dukes have tallied double-digit blocks in 14 matches this season to average 2.56 pet set, second-best in the CAA. The Dukes are also out-blocking opponents 220.5 to 128.5 this season. Kelly Robertson has garnered two double-digit blocking performances over her senior campaign and ranks second on the team with 84.0 total blocks. Taylor Gail leads the squad with a conference-leading 101.0 total blocks, while ranking second in the league with a 1.25 blocks per set average.

AUSTIN CHASING DOWN SINGLE-SEASON DIGS RECORD
With her 23rd consecutive double-digit digs performance, Taylor Austin jumped into fourth place on James Madison's single-season digs charts with 482 total digs this season. Jena Pierson holds the single-season record with 698 digs over the 2007 season. The Ashburn, Va. native holds a 5.81 digs per set average, which ranks first in the conference, second in the NCAA and is the third-highest single-season average in JMU history.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS

	*CAA Record*	*Overall Record*
Northeastern	8-2	18-6
Charleston	8-2	15-7
Towson	6-4	19-6
Hofstra	6-4	16-7
James Madison	6-5	14-10
UNCW	4-6	14-8
Delaware	3-7	9-14
Elon	2-7	15-10
William & Mary	2-8	8-15

TWEET OF THE MATCH

@JMUVolleyball some alumni are cheering you on together from Texas #DDP pic.twitter.com/ENKz5ADWnR
— Meghan Niski (@MeghanNiski) October 23, 2016

UP NEXT
James Madison begins a three-match road slate, its final road swing of the regular season, on Friday, Oct. 28 when the Dukes travel to Williamsburg, Va. to face William & Mary at 7 p.m.