Dukes Sweep No.22 Western Kentucky

Saturday, September 2

University Park, Pa. / Rec Hall

11 a.m.

James Madison University

4-1,0-0Sun Belt

Western Kentucky

4-3,0-0CUSA

Western Ky.

James Madison

9/2/2023 1:26:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – An efficient offensive attack and key runs led James Madison volleyball to a sweep of No.22 Western Kentucky in the second game of the Penn State Invitational Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Dukes improve to 4-1 on the season, while the Hilltoppers drop to 4-3.

JMU enjoyed their best offensive performance of the season, as the Dukes hit .381. Sophie Davis and Miëtte Veldman each recorded 12 kills, while Brenya Reid added nine kills of her own.

Madilyn O'Toole finished with two service aces and now has eight on the season, second on the team behind Veldman (10). Jaydyn Clemmer finished with 12 digs and leads the Dukes with 66 through five games.

Western Kentucky was led by Kenadee Coyle, who finished with 13 kills. Paige Briggs accumulated 11 kills of her own, while Kaylee Cox added nine kills and 11 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set: JMU 25-22
The Dukes opened the match with a service ace from Jaydyn Clemmer, but three points from Western Kentucky gave the Hilltoppers a 3-1 lead early in the set. James Madison responded with a 4-0 run, which included the teams' second service ace from Madilyn O'Toole and two kills from Brenya Reid. After the Hilltoppers battled back and gained a 16-14 advantage on a Callie Bauer block, the Dukes battled back to tie the set at 18. The two teams traded points to a 22-22 tie before JMU ended the set on a 3-0 run. A kill from Sophie Davis, a service ace from Hannah Roberts, and a double block from Rebecca Watkins and Alex Kwasnik sealed the deal.

Second Set: JMU 25-22
The Dukes jumped ahead 5-3 thanks to a bevy of WKU errors to open the second frame. After the Hilltoppers jumped back ahead 7-6, JMU opened up a 12-8 lead on two more kills from Reid and one from Davis. The Dukes continued to extend their lead with efficient offense, as kills from Alex Kwasnik and Elizabeth Helmich gave JMU their biggest lead of the set, 16-11. Western Kentucky was not going to go down easy, as they pulled to within one on a solo block from Briggs to make it 18-17. A Sophie Davis kill and WKU attack error pushed the lead back to three (20-17), a lead that the Dukes would not relinquish as they moved ahead 2-0.

Third Set: JMU 26-24
Looking to force a fourth set, Western Kentucky came out of the gate in the third set up 4-1 with kills from Cox and Coyle. After the Dukes tied it back up on kills from Davis and Veldman, it looked like WKU would force a fourth set after they built an 18-13 lead. However, thanks to three kills and an ace from Veldman, the Dukes pulled to within two at 19-17. After being behind by as much as six points, two terminations from Davis and another service ace from O'Toole tied the set at 21. The Hilltoppers responded right back with three points of their own to force a set point, but Rebecca Watkins notched a block to tie it at 24-24, Veldman tallied her 12^th kill to make it 25-24, and a double-block from Watkins and Kwasnik gave the Dukes the sweep.

UP NEXT
James Madison will go for their second straight ranked win on Sunday, as they will take on No.14 Penn State at 2 p.m. Penn State won their first match in four sets over Western Kentucky Friday and will take on Colgate at 2 p.m. today.