Dukes Outshine Cougars in Close Four-Set Contest

Thursday, October 25

Charleston, SC

7 p.m.

James Madison University

18-4, 10-1CAA

College of Charleston

15-9, 6-4CAA

James Madison

Charleston

10/25/2018 9:51:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score @jmuvolleyball Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. – James Madison volleyball picked up its 10th Colonial Athletic Association victory after defeating College of Charleston, 3-1 (20-25, 29-27, 25-22, 25-21), Thursday evening in TD Arena.

The Dukes (18-4, 10-1 CAA) overcame a first-set blunder to win the next three sets over the Cougars (15-9, 6-4 CAA) and become the only CAA team to have double-digit wins in conference play.

Junior Sarah Martin led the squad with 47 assists to reach 2,000 career assists. Junior M'Kaela White registered a team-leading 15 kills to match her season high while junior Sarah Driscoll topped the Dukes with 27 digs.

MATCH NOTES
- Martin is the ninth player in program history to reach the 2,000 career assist milestone and places ninth on the all-time list with a total of 2,023.
- Joining White, three other players tallied double-digit kills: Kelly Vahos (13), Bryn Recker (12) and Briley Brind'Amour (10).
- Recker notched her 14th double-double on the season as she added 14 digs to her 12 kills.
- White and Vahos recorded .306 and .333 attack percentages, respectively.
- With four service aces, Martin matched her career high, which was set in 2017 in the sweep against Buffalo.
- This is Tilbe Yaglioglu's fifth match of the season in which she's produced three or more service aces.
- Martin and Taylor Gail each posted a match-leading eight blocks.
- As a squad, the Dukes had 15 total blocks, outperforming the Cougar's seven total blocks.
- JMU registered eight service aces – six more than Charleston.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Dukes found themselves in a deficit early on in the first set and, though the teams traded points from then on, JMU could not recover.
- Charleston found an early run to take a quick lead which was held until the Dukes, trailing 22-15, hit their stride with a 7-0 run containing kills from White and Martin and blocks from Gail/Recker, Gail/Martin and solely Recker. JMU fought to keep the upper hand, ultimately winning set two.
- The third set found itself being shifted back-and-forth as no team emerged as a clear leader until the Dukes jumped out to a slight 21-19 advantage. JMU rode this slight lead to the very end.
- Again, points were close on each side and only in the end could the Dukes utilize a 7-3 run to seal the deal.

UP NEXT
The Dukes travel to UNCW on Saturday, Oct. 27 for an 8 p.m. start time.