HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison volleyball won its fourth match in a row, sweeping William & Mary 25-18, 25-23, 25-23, on Sunday afternoon inside the Convocation Center.
JMU (7-5) tied a season-high 13 blocks and outhit William & Mary (5-6) .246 to .173. Sophomore Ayen Nhial had a season-high nine denials, while Julia McNeley (12) and Sydney Lewis (11) recorded double-digit digs.
Offensively, the freshman tandem of Addie Norman and Ana Toumazatos picked up 12 kills apiece, while Kennedy Louisell had 11 on her way to being named the Erie Insurance Invitational tournament MVP. Grace Wenrich had 25 assists to power the offense.
Katherine Arnason led the Tribe offensively with 10 kills, while Olivia Esposito led William & Mary with five blocks.
How It Happened
First Set: James Madison 25-18
• A block from Melisa Ilter and Anna Wilson gave the Dukes a 10-4 lead and forced a timeout from the visitors.
• William & Mary trimmed the deficit to 17-14, but JMU responded with two straight to force a timeout.
• The Tribe got no closer than four the rest of the way as the Dukes went ahead 1-0.
Second Set: James Madison 25-23
• After William & Mary pulled ahead 8-5, JMU scored five straight to take a 10-8 lead.
• The Tribe evened the score at 14-14 on a Dukes’ error and went ahead 17-15 to force a JMU timeout.
• Down 23-22, the Dukes rattled off three straight to take the set. A kill from Norman, a block from Wilson and Ilter, and a kill from Louisell gave JMU a 2-0 lead in the match.
Third Set: James Madison 25-23
• A kill from Toumazatos gave JMU a 12-7 lead as the visitors called a timeout.
• JMU led 17-11, but the Tribe whittled the deficit to one on multiple occasions. A kill from Arnason made the score 23-22 JMU.
• A Louisell kill gave JMU the match point, and the Dukes picked up a side-out kill from Norman to come away with the victory.
Match Notes
• JMU’s 13.0 blocks are the most in a three-set match since the Dukes also had 13 against App State on Sept. 23, 2022.
• JMU has now won 19 straight matches against William & Mary. The Dukes lead the all-time series 56-45-1.
• Louisell’s 11 kills brought her season total to 232 (5.15 per set) through the first month of the season.
• Wenrich finished the weekend with 82 assists (7.20 per set). In 12 matches, the senior has recorded eight games with 20-plus assists, totaling 281 for the season.
Erie Insurance Invitational All-Tournament Team
Kennedy Louisell – James Madison (MVP)
Julia McNeley – James Madison
Audrey Brcka – William & Mary
Emma Patmon – Delaware State
Aaliyah Snead – UTRGV
Valentina Sartia Cipriani – UTRGV
Up Next
James Madison begins Sun Belt Conference play with a trip to Boone, N.C., to take on App State on Sept. 26-27.
— JMU Athletics —
