Dukes Roll to Fifth Straight Win, 3-1 Over Elon

Thursday, October 2

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

10-5 (2-0CAA)

Elon

5-13 (0-3CAA)

Elon

James Madison

10/2/2014 9:14:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - The James Madison volleyball team hit .281 on the attack en route to its fifth straight win on Thursday evening, bouncing back from a one-set deficit to earn a 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-16) victory over visiting Elon.

Sophomore Janey Goodman (Powhatan, Va./Powhatan) racked up 14 kills on a .286 attack percentage to lead the Dukes, who moved to 10-5 (2-0 CAA) with their fifth straight victory. Senior Lizzy Briones (Siloam Springs, Ark./Siloam Springs) tallied 11 kills of her own on .308 hitting.

"I am incredibly proud of our team tonight," Head Coach Lauren Steinbrecher said. "Elon came out firing and we showed true toughness by staying calm, making some adjustments and finding ways to score."

The Phoenix jumped out to an early lead in the first set, going up 12-6 before a JMU timeout halted momentum briefly. Though the Dukes battled back to pull within one point on five occasions, the two squads traded points until Elon was able to close out the frame at 25-23.

JMU again fell into an early deficit in the second set, going down 10-4 before using four straight points to cut the lead to 10-8. The Dukes would work their way back into things, eventually going on a 5-1 run to take a 19-17 advantage. Elon picked up two straight points to tie it at 19-19, but JMU closed out the set on a 6-1 run, taking it 25-20

The first portion of the third set was evenly-matched, as the teams traded leads until Elon went ahead, 11-9. At that point, however, the Dukes ripped off 11 straight points, including two aces from junior Sarah Patterson (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley) and a pair of Niski kills, that put them up 20-11 and in a commanding position to close things out at 25-14.

JMU kept the pedal down in the fourth set, winning the first six points of the frame and never looking back. Elon would get as close as three points at 9-6 before the Dukes used a separate 5-0 run to put things out of reach. After some trading of points, JMU was able to close out the set and the match at 25-16.

The Dukes stepped their defense up after the opening set, holding Elon to just a .107 attack percentage across the final three frames as the Phoenix fell to 5-13 (0-3 CAA).

Junior MacKenzie Kleespies (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) racked up 21 digs on the evening, giving her four matches in the last five with 20+ digs, while junior Meghan Niski (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) tallied 14. Patterson finished with a match-high 44 assists.

JMU will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 3, when they re-take the floor at Sinclair Gymnasium for a 6 p.m. match against UNCW.