NORFOLK, Va. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison volleyball won its 13th straight match, clinching the outright Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship with a five-set win (25-22, 21-25, 25-15, 23-25, 15-11) over Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, JMU (20-6, 13-1 Sun Belt) clinched the outright Sun Belt regular-season championship—the third under Head Coach Lauren Steinbrecher and second since joining the league in 2022.
The win also marks JMU’s 20th of the season, Steinbrecher’s 10th season of 20 wins or more in 16 seasons leading the program. The 13-match win streak is tied for the fourth-longest in school history and two away from tying the school record (15, 2022).
Kennedy Louisell led JMU with 16 kills while also tallying 10 digs and six blocks. Ayen Nhial racked up 10 blocks to lead the Dukes, while Sydney Lewis registered a season-high 22 digs.
Addie Norman (14) and Ana Toumazatos (13) also finished with 10 or more kills as JMU hit .292 and held Old Dominion (5-20, 2-12 SBC) to .174 hitting. Rita Benidio led the Monarchs with 16 kills.
How It Happened
First Set: James Madison 25-22
• Both squads traded points in the early going. However, a kill and an ace for ODU allowed the Monarchs to take a 19-17 lead and force JMU’s first timeout of the match.
• James Madison stormed out of the timeout on an 8-3 run, including a pair of kills from McNeley, to steal the first from the Monarchs.
Second Set: Old Dominion 25-21
• After the Monarchs grabbed an early 8-3 lead, JMU managed to close the gap to two as ODU lead 15-13 at the media timeout.
• Old Dominion maintained its lead, growing it to as many as three. However, back-to-back kills by Norman drew the Dukes within one and forced an ODU timeout at 22-21.
• The Monarchs scored three straight, including two off JMU attacking errors, to tie the match at one set apiece.
Third Set: James Madison 25-15
• After exchanging points to begin the set, JMU used a 7-0 run to jump out to a 10-3 lead and force an ODU timeout.
• The Dukes kept their foot on the gas following the break, going on another 9-3 run to acquire a ten-point lead at 16-6
• JMU finished off the set with help from Louisell’s three kills to take a 2-1 lead over ODU.
Fourth Set: Old Dominion 25-23
• ODU held a 16-12 lead, but JMU scored four straight to even the score at 16-16.
• After a JMU timeout trailing 19-17, the Dukes rallied to even the score at 22-22 on an ace from Anna Wilson.
• Louisell notched a kill to tie the score at 23-23, but kills from Benidio and Elisa Maggi forced a fifth.
Fifth Set: James Madison 15-11
• A kill from Norman gave JMU an 8-7 lead at the media timeout.
• Another kill from Norman evened the score at 10-10 as ODU called a timeout.
• After the timeout, JMU scored six of the last seven points to rally for the five-set win.
Match Notes
• Louisell finished with 16 kills, bringing her season total to 517, 35 away from tying Janey Goodman for the JMU single-season rally-scoring era kills record, which she accomplished in the 2016 season.
• JMU’s 13-match win streak marks just the fifth time in program history the Dukes have won 13 straight.
• Since joining the Sun Belt in 2022, Steinbrecher owns a record of 46-16 (.742) in conference matches.
• Steinbrecher moved to 293 career wins.
• JMU improved to 6-1 in five-set matches this season.
Up Next
JMU will wrap up its home slate and regular season with two matches against Texas State on Nov. 13-14 at the Convocation Center.
— JMU Athletics —
