VOLLEYBALL DUKES BLOWN OFF COURSE BY GAEL FORCE

Friday, September 16

Harrisonburg, Va.

James Madison University

George Mason

9/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

HARRISONBURG, Va., Sept. 16, 2005 – The Gaels of Iona College took charge of the JMU/Days Inn Women's Volleyball Invitational Friday night with a come-from-behind win against the host Dukes of James Madison in five games. The Gaels, who earlier in the day defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore in three straight games, are 2-0 in the tournament, while the Dukes fell to 1-1. George Mason is 1-1 and UMES is 0-2 after day one.

The pivotal stretch in the final match of the day saw the Gaels (3-6) overcome a 15-10 deficit in game four and go on the win 30-27 to force a game five. Iona pulled away from a 10-all tie in the decisive game for a 15-11 final. The Gaels had captured game one (30-25) before the the defending Days Inn champion Dukes seemingly took control by taking the next two games (30-24 and 30-28).

Sophomore outside hitter Kristin Allain (Orlando, Fla./Bishop Moore) powered Iona with 25 kills on 49 attempts and only four errors for an impressive .429 attack rate. She was supported by senior middle blocker Miki Hogg's (Sun Prarie, Wisc./Sun Prarie) 17 kills and 13 from sophomore outside hitter Megan Daily (San Diego, Calif./Horizon).

The Dukes (6-3) sported a balanced attack with five players netting double-figure kills, paced by senior outside Emilee Hussack (Chamberburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley Christain) with 18 and sophomore middle Allyson Halls (Columbus, Ohio/Olentangy) with 17. Sophomore libero Jena Pierson (San Antonio, Texas/James Madison) turned in a match-high total of 32 digs.

In the third match of the day, Mason (2-6) produced an efficient attack rate of .321 in disposing of UMES (1-7) in four games. The Patriots used a three-pronged attack as sophomore outside Jaqueline Kohler (Curitiba, Brazil) tallied a dozen kills, followed by junior middle Janelle Wilson (Towanda, Kan./Circle) with 11 and senior outside Natalia Porosa (Scarborough, Ontario) with 10.

UMES freshman Holiday Eller (Minnetonka, Minn./St. Benilde-St. Margaret's) led the Hawks with 11 kills.

Day one Results: (Sept. 16)

Iona defeats Maryland-Eastern Shore 30-25, 30-22, 30-12

James Madison defeats George Mason 30-27, 30-28, 30-20

George Mason defeats Maryland-Eastern Shore 30-19, 31-29, 28-30, 30-2