JMU Powers Past UNCW, 3-1

Friday, October 7

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

11-7 (3-2CAA)

UNCW

12-5 (2-3CAA)

UNCW

James Madison

10/7/2016 10:49:00 PM | Volleyball

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HARRISONBURG, Va. – Strong defensive performances powered James Madison volleyball over UNCW, 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23), in a tightly contested Colonial Athletic Association match Friday evening inside Godwin Hall.

The Dukes improved to 11-7 overall and a 3-2 mark in league action, while UNCW fell to 12-5 and 2-3 in the CAA. With its 3-1 victory over UNCW on Friday evening, James Madison topped the Seahawks in Harrisonburg for the first time since Oct. 8, 2010 when the Dukes swept UNCW in straight sets.

Junior libero Taylor Austin headed the defense with a career-high 34 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Bryn Recker chipped in a career-best 21. JMU garnered 99 total digs as team. Defensively, the Dukes added 10 team blocks for the JMU's third consecutive match with double-digit blocks. Sophomore middle block Taylor Gail top JMU with six block assists.

Senior right side hitter Janey Goodman led the JMU offense with 21 kills, while senior outside hitter Kate Whitmire tallied a season-best 13. Sophomore Tilbe Yaglioglu and freshman Sarah Martin split time at setter, garnering 31 and 22 assists, respectively, to lead JMU to a .215 attacking percentage. Yaglioglu added 12 digs to record her second double-double of the season.

The Seahawks jumped out to a 5-1 advantage to open the first set and continued to lead late until a kill from Whitmire gave the Dukes their first lead of night, 19-18. UNCW battled back to lock the set up at 21-all, but JMU rolled out a 4-1 run to take the first set, 25-22. The second set featured seven ties, but a 3-0 run by UNCW with the match tied at 14-all proved to be the fourth and final lead change as the Seahawks evened the match with a 25-22 set victory.

With the third set tied 10-all, JMU used a 5-2 run, featuring two kills from Recker, to jump out to 15-12 advantage. UNCW rallied late with a 5-0 run of its own to pull within two of the Dukes, 22-20, but Goodman delivered the final kill of the set to put JMU up 2-1.

The Seahawks opened the fourth set with a 4-1 lead before JMU powered back to tie the set up at 5-all. UNCW led by as much as three, before the Dukes once again battled from behind to locked the set back up at 15-all before taking the lead off a Whitmire kill. The Seahawks fought off match point, but Goodman's fifth kill of the set secured a Duke victory.

QUOTING COACH STEINBRECHER
"I'm so proud of this team. I am excited to see us grow in what we call the red zone at point 20-20. Last weekend, I thought we really struggled when it mattered. We worked on it all week at practice. UNCW is a really good team, and we came out when it mattered and scored points. It's just great to be home again."

TWEET OF THE MATCH

Hey @JMUVolleyball! @JMUSoftball wanted to wish y'all luck tonight against UNCW! #GoDukes #ProudAndTrue pic.twitter.com/okDB0vqZw7
— JMU Duke Club (@JMUDukeClub) October 7, 2016

AUSTIN REWRITES RECORD BOOK
With a career-high 34 digs against the Seahawks, Taylor Austin vaulted past Natalie Able (2009-12) to rank fifth on JMU's all-time digs chart after tallying her 1,194th career dig. The Ashburn, Va. native is just six digs shy from becoming one of five Dukes to ever tallied 1,200 or more kill, and the libero is just 17 digs away from overtaking Molly Ball (1988-91) for fourth place.

BLOCK PARTY CONTINUES
For the third consecutive match, the Dukes have tallied double-digit blocks against opponents after garnering 10 total versus UNCW. JMU is averaging 2.41 blocks per set, while out-blocking opponents 149.5 to 89.5. Taylor Gail leads all Dukes with 65 total blocks with a team-best 1.14 blocks per set average.

IMPRESSIVE DEFENSIVE NUMBERS
Powered by two career-best performances, JMU totaled 99 digs as a team. The last time JMU garnered 90 or more digs was on Sept. 19, 2014 when the Dukes topped Princeton, 3-2. With her career-best 34 digs, Taylor Austin becomes the first Duke to rack up 30 or more kills since the junior totaled 31 against Northern Arizona on Aug. 28, 2015.

PHOTO OF THE MATCH - CLICK HERE TO VIEW FULL GALLERY

Senior Kate Whitmire tallied a season-best 13 kills against UNCW on Friday evening.

CAA STANDINGS

SCHOOL	CAA	OVERALL
Northeastern	4-1	14-5
Charleston	4-1	11-6
Towson	3-2	15-4
Hofstra	3-2	13-5
James Madison	3-2	11-7
Elon	2-3	15-6
UNCW	2-3	12-5
William & Mary	1-4	7-11
Delaware	0-4	6-11

UP NEXT
James Madison closes out its homestand on Sunday, Oct. 9 when the Dukes host the College of Charleston at 1 p.m. for Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day. Sunday's contest will have a live audio broadcast on MadiZONE HD SportsNet, presented by the JMU Athletic Association.