Commentary: Not Your Average Cinderella

Over the course of the last few weeks, the softball world - to say nothing of sports fans in general - has discovered what we at James Madison already know: this team is special. America has fallen in love with Odicci Alexander and a team playing with toughness, grit and talent above what the traditionalists in the sport think they should have.

Forgive us, but JMU fans and those of us who work behind the scenes for our student-athletes have come to expect this from our Dukes - not just in softball, but in every sport.

Fans love the "David vs. Goliath" storyline - the little school that punches up against the big dog. Pardon our purple-colored glasses, but this isn't some little bulldog and not your typical David. These Dukes have been here before and – news flash – they expect to be here again. They knew it was a matter of when, not if, they would reach Oklahoma City.

JMU enters the Women's College World Series at 39-2. The only record better is its first-round opponent, No. 1 Oklahoma, at 50-2. The Dukes had a 28-game winning streak, longest in the nation, before dropping the middle game of their Super Regional. JMU also dominated the conference tournament to the tune of 32-0 in just 17 innings.

The JMU softball program hasn't even existed for 20 years. The first season came in 2002, but the program seemed destined for greatness from its inception, given JMU's picturesque campus, academic stature, history of success in women's sports and ideal location in the mid-Atlantic surrounded by good softball talent. A new facility injected life in 2010 and, when Mickey Dean took the helm in 2013, JMU immediately became a team to be taken seriously. Dean passed the torch to his assistant, Loren LaPorte, and the success has hit even greater heights.

Beginning with Dean's first year, the Dukes have been to nine consecutive NCAA tournaments (they had one before that).
383-88 record in 8.5 seasons (played just 19 games in COVID-shortened 2020).
Three Super Regionals, one of just 13 squads to make three of the last five, with the others all hailing from the Power 5.
Women's College World Series, the first participant from outside the Power 5 since Louisiana in 2014 and first unseeded team since USF and LSU in 2012 (joined by Georgia this year).

Many great accomplishments have occurred for JMU softball in a short time, but great accomplishments are nothing new to JMU Athletics. While JMU has established itself as one of the nation's best outside of the Power 5 in softball, the same could be said for the department as a whole.

In this COVID-impacted 2020-21 alone, JMU has won 68.5% of its games in all sports with 10 of its 18 sports either winning a conference championship (7) or a regular season title (3). Nine JMU coaches have been named CAA Coach of the Year in a single sports year.

And that's just the last year… overall JMU has won 65.6% of its games in all sports over the last six years. We've done the research, that puts the Dukes among the top 15 in the country over that stretch, a field composed of (you guessed it) all Power 5 programs.

When you look at JMU's other accomplishments, this WCWS appearance is nothing new:

Since 2004, two national championships in FCS football along with two runner-up and two semifinalist appearances.
A 2010 football win at Virginia Tech, the second ever by a FCS program against a ranked FBS squad – and a 1982 win at Virginia.
Before the term "Cinderella" even hit March Madness, there was JMU winning first-round men's basketball games in three straight years 1981-1983.
JMU women's basketball was the first in the tournament's history to give the No. 1 seed a loss in its first game, winning on Penn State's court in 1991. The Dukes have the third-most wins in NCAA women's basketball history, trailing only Tennessee and Connecticut.
Lacrosse won a national championship in 2018. It was the first time since 2004 that the champion was not Maryland, Northwestern or North Carolina.
JMU baseball made its own College World Series in 1983, the first from Virginia and only from the state until Virginia made it in 2009. JMU is the only program in Virginia to reach both baseball and softball College World Series.
Field hockey topped North Carolina in 1994 for a national championship.
Men's soccer has been one win away from the College Cup three times (1994, 1995, 2018).
And ESPN has been no stranger to Harrisonburg with a show called College GameDay, a show typically reserved for the Power 5, visiting twice in 2015 and 2017.

Suffice to say, those of us who work at JMU and all of JMU Nation behind us aren't surprised by our achievements. We don't have the resources of Power 5, but what we have, we make the most of and we love representing this institution.

So, as all eyes turn to the Women's College World Series this week, there's plenty of room on the JMU bandwagon. Join us for the ride, add more purple to your wardrobe and see what's so special about James Madison University. Oklahoma City, here we come!

Kevin Warner ('02) serves as Assistant Athletic Director for Communications at JMU and never uses the word "upset" to describe any JMU victory in any sport.

Calendar

Players Mentioned

Odicci Alexander

JMU Footer

Scoreboard

Calendar

Completed Event: Field Hockey versus Ohio on October 31, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 1

Completed Event: Men's Soccer versus Old Dominion on October 31, 2025 , Tie , 1, to, 1

Completed Event: Volleyball at South Alabama on October 31, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 2 , (16-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-18, 15-9)

Completed Event: Women's Tennis at Phoenix Fall Invitational on November 1, 2025 ,

Completed Event: Swimming & Diving versus Marshall on November 1, 2025 , Loss , 145, to, 154

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Kent State on November 3, 2025 at 6 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Akron on November 3, 2025 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Soccer versus #4 Texas State on November 3, 2025 at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CST)

Upcoming Event: Men's Soccer at Coastal Carolina on November 4, 2025 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Soccer versus Semifinals on November 5, 2025 at TBD

James Madison University | Official Athletics Site