Dukes Earn Sixth Straight Victory In Five-Set Thriller At UNCW

Saturday, November 5

Wilmington, N.C.

8 p.m.

James Madison University

17-10 (9-5CAA)

UNCW

15-11 (5-9CAA)

James Madison

UNCW

Dukes Earn Sixth Straight Victory In Five-Set Thriller At UNCW

11/5/2016 11:21:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score @JMUVolleyball Box Score 2016 Statistics 2016 Schedule/Results

WILMINGTON, N.C. – For the second consecutive match, James Madison volleyball was forced to play five, but the Dukes earned their sixth consecutive victory in a five-set thriller (21-25, 28-26, 25-19, 22-25, 15-11) against UNCW inside Hanover Hall Saturday evening.

With the victory, the Dukes closed out the regular-season road slate and improved to 17-10 overall with a 9-5 mark in Colonial Athletic Association play, clinching a spot in the 2016 CAA Tournament. The Seahawks fell to 15-11 and 5-9 in conference action. JMU is now knotted in a three-way tie for second place in the CAA standings with Hofstra and the College of Charleston heading into the final two games of the regular season.

Coming off a career performance at Charleston on Thursday, right side hitter Janey Goodman didn't slow down as the senior posted 30 or more kills for the second consecutive match. Goodman tallied 30 against the Seahawks on 77 attempts for a .325 hitting percentage while adding three digs and three blocks.

Outside hitter Bryn Recker tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 17 digs. The sophomore added two service aces and three blocks. Sophomore Tilbe Yaglioglu joined Recker as the setter recorded her sixth double-double of the season dishing out 38 assists with 14 digs.

Defensively, the Dukes were dominate on the court, holding the Seahawks to a .126 hitting percentage while no Seahawks hit double-digit kills until the fourth set of the match. JMU racked up 11 total blocks as sophomore middle blocker Taylor Gail tied her season high with seven. Junior Taylor Austin racked up 30 or more digs for the sixth time this season as the libero set a new career best with 39.

After falling to the Seahawks, 25-21, in the first set, the Dukes bounced back in the second stanza. The Dukes used two kills and a block from Gail to pull ahead by four, 10-6. JMU maintained its lead for the majority of the match, but UNCW fought back late with back-to-back points to lock the set up at 21-all. The Dukes faced set-point twice, but the Seahawks managed to fight off both attempts. With the set knotted at 26-all, Recker landed two consecutive kills to give JMU the victory and even the match at 1-1.

JMU used a 5-0 run midway through the third set to pull ahead 11-8 and never relinquished the lead, tallying four consecutive points to close the set in favor of the Dukes, 25-19. Despite leading the majority of the fourth set, UNCW scored eight of the final 13 points to mount a fourth-set comeback, 25-22, to force a decisive fifth.

The Dukes landed the first three points and added a 4-0 run midway through the final set to pull ahead of the Seahawks, 11-6. The Seahawks did not go down easy, fighting off four consecutive match points, before Goodman delivered the final blow to secure the sixth consecutive victory for JMU.

QUOTING COACH STEINBRECHER
"UNCW is an incredibly talented team and their defense was bringing it tonight. I was pleased, once again, with the composure our team showed, especially to end the second and fifth sets. It shows how strong out senior leaders are. I'm proud of this team."

DUKES CLINCH SPOT IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
With its ninth victory in conference action, James Madison clinched a spot in the 2016 CAA Tournament on Saturday evening, marking the seventh consecutive tournament berth under the helm of Head Coach Lauren Steinbrecher. The Dukes made back-to-back semifinal appearances in the 2015 and 2014 tournaments. The 2016 championships will be hosted by UNCW on Nov. 18-20. JMU is battling for second place and a first round bye currently locked in a three-way tie with Hofstra and Charleston. The Dukes are just one game behind conference leader Northeastern (10-4).

GOODMAN TOPS SEASON BEST
Coming off back-to-back performances of 30 or more kills, Janey Goodman has surpassed her 2015 kills total of 468, which helped the senior to the 2015 CAA Player of the Year honor, and now ranks fifth on the JMU single-season kills chart with 470. With two regular-season matches remaining, the Powhatan, Va. native is just 37 kills away from taking-down Lindsay Collingwood's long-standing, single-season record of 506 set back in 1996.

GAIL ETCHES NAME IN RECORD BOOK
Sophomore Taylor Gail added her name onto the JMU record books as the middle blocker recorded her 106th block assists of the season at UNCW. The Chesapeake, Va. native now ranks seventh on the single-season block assists chart. With 119 total blocks this season, the sophomore is just nine blocks away from adding her name to the single-season total blocks chart.

TWEET OF THE MATCH

Big road win on a great day to be a Duke! You're on the clock @JMU_FieldHockey #GoDukes https://t.co/EIUEtZ5frB
— Kevin Warner (@KevinAWarner) November 6, 2016

CONFERENCE STANDINGS

	CAA Record	Overall Record
Northeastern	10-4	20-8
Hofstra	9-5	19-8
James Madison	9-5	17-10
Charleston	9-5	16-10
Towson	8-5	21-7
Delaware	6-7	12-14
UNCW	5-9	15-11
Elon	3-10	17-13
William & Mary	2-11	8-18

UP NEXT
James Madison closes out the 2016 regular season with back-to-back home matches inside the friendly confines of Sinclair Gym. JMU hosts Delaware on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. before closes out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 12 hosting Towson on "Senior Night" at 7 p.m.