MOBILE, Ala. (JMU Athletics) – The James Madison volleyball team won its 10th match in a row, taking down South Alabama, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, on Thursday night at Jag Gym.
JMU (17-6, 10-1 Sun Belt) secured its 10th straight win for the 10th time in program history and for the fifth time under Head Coach Lauren Steinbrecher. South Alabama (13-9, 8-3 SBC) lost at home for the first time this season and just the seventh time under fifth-year Head Coach Jesse Ortiz.
Kennedy Louisell, the reigning AVCA National Player of the Week, finished with 20 kills and eight digs while hitting .319. As a team, JMU finished with 16 blocks, as Anna Wilson tied a career-high nine while Ayen Nhial added six.
Addie Norman had nine kills and hit .421, while Julia McNeley led the Dukes with 16 digs.
Cambria Gaier led South Alabama with 16 kills, while Eva Dittmar and Maradith O’Gorman finished with 14 kills each.
How It Happened
First Set: James Madison 25-22
• JMU jumped out to a 9-7 lead on an ace from Wenrich, but the Jaguars used an 8-2 run to swing ahead 15-11 at the first media timeout.
• A kill from Melisa Ilter tied the score at 18-18, and the Dukes scored the next two to gain a 20-18 lead.
• The Jaguars trimmed the lead to one three times, but a kill from Louisell and a South Alabama attack error gave JMU the first set.
Second Set: South Alabama 25-22
• A kill from Nhial gave JMU a 15-14 lead at the media timeout.
• South Alabama used a 5-2 run after the timeout to go ahead 19-17 on a kill from Dalayla Blackwell.
• A kill from Toumazatos trimmed the Dukes’ deficit to 23-22, but the Jaguars capitalized on a JMU error and secured the set with a kill from Cambria Gaier.
Third Set: James Madison 25-23
• JMU led 15-11 at the media timeout, using multiple runs to gain an advantage.
• The Jaguars trimmed the lead to three (20-17), but JMU answered and extended the lead back to 23-19 on a Louisell kill.
• Two straight points from South Alabama cut the Dukes’ advantage to 24-23, but Melisa Ilter put the set away with a kill.
Fourth Set: James Madison 25-23
• After South Alabama jumped ahead 4-1, the Dukes scored six of seven points to gain an 11-6 lead on an ace from Grace Wenrich.
• JMU extended the lead to 20-14 on a Louisell kill, then South Alabama’s 6-2 run cut it to 22-20, prompting a JMU timeout.
• South Alabama pulled to one at 23-22 and 24-23, but a service error gave the Dukes the win.
Match Notes
• JMU improved to 3-4 against South Alabama, winning its first match in four tries and for the first time in Mobile.
• South Alabama dropped just its seventh match at home under Head Coach Jesse Ortiz, who is in his fifth season with the Jaguars.
• The 10-match win streak is the first since the 2022 season and 10th overall in the 52-year history of JMU volleyball.
• Louisell’s 20 kills mark the 11th time this season the junior has recorded 20 kills or more, bringing her season total to 475 – passing Janey Goodman’s 2015 total of 468 for fourth place on the JMU single-season kills list in the rally scoring era.
Up Next
JMU and South Alabama will conclude their two-match series with a match at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) on Oct. 31.
— JMU Athletics —
