HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – Texas State rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat James Madison volleyball, (25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 21-25, 12-15), on Thursday night at the Convocation Center.
JMU (20-7, 13-2 Sun Belt) led 7-1 in the fifth, but Texas State (15-11, 10-5 SBC) stormed back for the win after trailing 2-0 in sets.
The loss snapped a 13-match win streak for JMU, tied for the third-longest winning streak in program history. On the other side, Texas State won its seventh match in a row.
Offensively, Kennedy Louisell led the way with 18 kills while hitting .273. Anna Wison had eight kills and hit .429. On the defensive side, Ayen Nhial tallied seven blocks while also adding seven kills.
Samantha Wunsch led Texas State with 21 kills, hitting .310 while adding nine digs. Maggie Walsh and Brooke Bentke each chipped in 10 kills, as Walsh finished with a double-double with 11 digs.
How It Happened
First Set: James Madison 25-21
• JMU forced a pair of timeouts from the Bobcats in the first, first at 7-2 and at 17-9. A kill from Nhial gave the Dukes a 17-9 lead.
• Texas State trimmed the JMU lead to 18-15, but JMU used a 6-3 run to reach set point with the lead 24-18. The Bobcats scored three in a row, but a Louisell kill gave the Dukes the first set.
Second Set: James Madison 25-19
• Down 9-7, JMU scored six straight points to take a 13-9 lead. The Dukes kept the Bobcats at arm’s length, forcing another timeout after an Anna Wilson kill put JMU up 21-16.
• The Dukes put the set away on a Texas State service error and went up 2-0.
Third Set: Texas State 25-19
• After JMU jumped ahead 5-0, Texas State rallied to tie the score at 10-10 on a kill from Jade Defraeye.
• A kill from Samantha Wunsch gave Texas State a 19-15 lead. Out of the timeout, a kill and two aces from Louisell trimmed the Bobcats’ lead to 19-18.
• Texas State ended the set on a 6-1 run to take the third.
Fourth Set: Texas State 25-21
• Texas State started the fourth up 7-3 and pushed its lead to 17-10 on an ace from Maggie Walsh.
• The Dukes got as close as three points on two occasions, but the Bobcats took the fourth set.
Fifth Set: Texas State 15-12
• JMU raced out to a 7-1 lead in the fifth, but Texas State stormed back to tie the score at 8-8.
• After the break, the Bobcats used a 5-2 run and went ahead 13-10. Kills from Louisell and Ana Toumazatos trimmed the deficit to two (14-12), but a kill from Defraeye sealed the win for the visitors.
Match Notes
• Texas State won its fourth straight match over JMU, improving to 8-5 against the Dukes.
• JMU fell to 6-2 in five-set matches this season.
• Louisell finished with 18 kills, bringing her season total to 535. The outside hitter needs just 18 kills to surpass Janey Goodman for the JMU Division I single-season kills record.
Up Next
JMU will wrap up the regular season tomorrow night against Texas State at 6 p.m.
— JMU Athletics —
