JMU earns five-set win over Old Dominion

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison volleyball recovered from a 2-1 set deficit to defeat Old Dominion 25-17, 15-25, 24-26, 25-18, 15-12 on Friday night at the Convocation Center.

JMU improved to 11-13 and 6-8 in Sun Belt play, while Old Dominion fell to 16-9 and 5-7 in league play.

Annie Smith posted a career-high 17 kills for a .607 hitting percentage and finished with zero errors in 28 swings while adding six blocks. Rented Veldman had 13 kills, seven digs and five blocks Julia McNeley finished the game with a game-leading 17 digs.

Two ODU players finished with double-doubles, with Bryanna Jones having 24 kills and 13 digs and Elisa Maggi having 17 kills and 13 digs. Ashlynn Belcher led the Monarchs with 56 assists.

How it happened
First set: James Madison 25-17

• JMU scored three straight points and forced the first timeout of the set at 12:10.
• A dump set of Rebecca Watkins gave the Dukes a 21-17 lead when the Monarchs called another timeout.
• Old Dominion couldn’t slow down JMU as the Dukes closed the set with a 5-0 run to take a 1-0 lead.

Second set: Old Dominion 25-15

• ODU scored on three straight turnovers to give the visitors an 11-7 lead while the Dukes called a timeout.
• The Monarchs flipped the script and took a 13-12 lead on a kill by Jones and extended their lead to 19-14 on an attack error by Veldman.
• A kill from Brenda Reid cut the Monarchs’ lead to 19-15, but ODU scored six straight points to win the set 25-15.

Third set: Old Dominion 26-24

• The Monarchs scored six straight goals to take an 8-6 lead when JMU called a timeout.
• ODU led 14-10, but the Dukes tied the score at 16-16, and a pair of aces from Watkins gave JMU an 18-16 lead.
• The Dukes reached the set point due to an offensive error by Old Dominion.

Fourth set: James Madison 25-18

• JMU took a 10-6 lead when ODU called a timeout early in the fourth period.
• Smith gave the Dukes a 22-15 lead on a kill from Smith, but two Monarch points cut the lead to 22-17.
• Watkins served an ace to force the fifth set for the second time in a row.

Fifth set: James Madison 15-12

• An ace from Smith gave JMU a 7-2 lead in the fifth, and a service error from Myah Conway gave the Dukes an 8-4 lead when the teams switched sides.
• Smith and Veldman combined on a block to give the Dukes a 12-8 lead, and both scored kills to extend JMU’s lead to 14-11.
• An ODU service error gave the Dukes the five-set win.

Game notes

• With the win, JMU secured a spot in the 10-team Sun Belt Tournament (November 21-24) in Foley, Alabama.
• The win improves JMU’s record to 4-5 in five-set matches this season.
• JMU evened the TowneBank Royal Rivalry Challenge 3.0-3.0 with tonight’s win.
• Reid finished the game with 14 kills, the 13th straight match in which the junior recorded double-digit kills.

Next

The Dukes will travel to the Lonestar State to face Texas State on November 14th and 15th.