Dukes Drop Sun Belt Opener to App State

Thursday, September 26

Harrisonburg, Va.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

5-6,0-1Sun Belt

App State

7-5,1-0Sun Belt

App State

James Madison

9/26/2024 9:18:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison volleyball dropped its Sun Belt Conference opener to App State, 23-25, 23-25, 20-25, on Thursday evening inside the Convocation Center.

JMU fell to 5-6 overall and 0-1 against league competition, while App State improved to 7-5 and 1-0 against conference foes. The win for the Mountaineers snapped a five-match losing streak to the Dukes and is the first triumph over JMU since 2011.

Sarah Schnell led JMU with eight kills at a .316 (8-2-19) clip, while Brenya Reid finished with seven. Sophomore Rebecca Watkins totaled 19 assists and libero Jaydyn Clemmer recorded 11 digs and now has the sixth most career digs in school history.

Maya Winterhoff had 11 kills to lead the App State attack, while setter Addison Heidemann tallied 32 assists to help the Mountaineers hit .287 for the match.

How It Happened
First Set: App State 25-23

App State recorded 18 kills at an efficient .531 hitting clip in the first.
The visitors jumped ahead 15-11 in the first on a kill from Bella Hutchens.
The lead grew to five (17-12) before an ace from Julia McNeley cut the JMU deficit to two (18-15), which forced the Mountaineers to call timeout.
Two kills from Reid tied the score at 23-23 but App State tallied two kills – one from Elise Marchal and one from Hutchens – and edged the Dukes.

Second Set: App State 25-23

The Mountaineers grabbed a 16-11 lead on a service ace from Kenady Roper, but after a Winterhoff kill, the Dukes cut the deficit to 19-17 on a service error from Winterhoff.
The App State lead ballooned to 24-19 but JMU fought off four set points to force a Mountaineer timeout and trim their lead to 24-23.
App State secured a side-out kill from Lulu Ambrose and took a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

Third Set: App State 25-23

JMU took the first timeout of the set after the Mountaineers rattled off three straight which made the score 12-10.
The Dukes went on a 3-0 run, aided by a pair of App State attacking errors, to make the score 16-15.
The Mountaineers took control of the third and never let JMU get within two (22-20), as the visitors pulled off the three-set sweep.

Match Notes

The loss marks the Dukes' first at home since joining the Sun Belt in 2022 (16-1).
Jaydyn Clemmer's 11 digs moved her past Natalie Abel (2009-12) for the sixth most in school history. Clemmer has 1,171 in her career and has recorded double-digit digs in all but two matches this season.

Up Next
JMU will host App State tomorrow night at 6 p.m. to close their two-match set. David Hulvey will provide commentary on ESPN+.