Dukes Advance to CAA Championship Match with Sweep over Towson

Friday, November 17

Harrisonburg, Va.

4 p.m.

James Madison University

22-5

Towson

26-5

James Madison

Towson

Dukes Advance to CAA Championship Match with Sweep over Towson

11/17/2017 7:00:00 PM | Volleyball

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HARRISONBURG, Va. – Behind a balanced offensive attack, third-seed James Madison swept second-seeded Towson 3-0 (25-17, 27-25, 25-21) in Friday's semifinals of the 2017 Colonial Athletic Association Women's Volleyball Championship inside Sinclair Gymnasium.

The Dukes improved to 22-5 and advance to the championship match to face the winner Friday night's semifinal between the top-seeded Charleston Cougars and the fifth-seeded Hofstra Pride.

MATCH NOTES

Seven Dukes recorded an attack, led by junior Bryn Recker who tallied 12 kills. The outside hitter also grabbed 11 digs to record her eighth double-double of the season.
Junior Taylor Gail also terminated eight balls on 15 attempts only committing three errors for a .333 hitting percentage. Redshirt sophomore Kelly Vahos also was strong at the net garnering eight kills.
Sarah Martin and Tilbe Yaglioglu spilt the setting duties with 17 each.
Senior defensive specialist Taylor Austin was leader on the backline with a match high 23 digs.
The Dukes recorded 8.0 total blocks led by sophomore M'Kaela White and Gail who each had four.
Jocelyn Kuilan led the Tigers with a match high 15 kills on 35 attempts only committing four errors for a .314 hitting percentage.

RECKER RECORDS EIGHTH DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Recker recorded her eighth double-double of the season with her 12 kills and 11 digs performance, this mark is a team-best in the 2017 campaign. This is the nineteenth time this season Recker has recorded double-figures in kills and eighth time recording double-figure digs.

QUOTING COACH STEINBRECHER
"I was so proud of our team tonight, Towson is an exceptional team and to beat them in three sets is huge. I thought we executed so well tonight. Taylor Austin was an absolute stud and leader tonight on our backline and we had a well balanced offense at the net. Everyone's mentality was right on, I thought our middles came up with some huge plays and Taylor Gail was exceptional tonight and we just achieved points when we really needed them. Going forward, we are really just focused on playing our game and not trying to do more or less than what we know how to do. We have to trust the work we have put in all season and believe that we are ready to go."

UP NEXT
The Dukes will play in the CAA Championship match tomorrow at 4 p.m. inside Sinclair Gymnasium. JMU awaits the winner of Friday's second semifinal match between the top-seeded College of Charleston and the fifth-seeded Hofstra. This will be the Dukes second straight trip to the Championship match, after winning the title in 2016.