Dukes Fall to Bobcats on Thursday Night

Thursday, November 14

San Marcos, Texas

5:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. CT)

James Madison University

11-14,6-9Sun Belt

Texas State

18-8,12-3Sun Belt

James Madison

Texas St.

11/14/2024 8:05:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The James Madison volleyball team fell to Texas State (18-25, 25-21, 27-29, 19-25) in four sets on Thursday evening at Strahan Arena.

Texas State won its ninth straight match to improve to 18-8 and 12-3 in Sun Belt action, while JMU dropped to 11-14 and 6-9 in league play.

Miëtte Veldman led JMU with 14 kills and now sits at 1,477 in her career, 23 away from becoming the fourth player in program history with 1,500 kills. Olivia Vance registered 12 kills and led the team with five blocks, while Rebecca Watkins had 27 assists and seven digs.

Samantha Wunsch led Texas State with 22 kills on 42 swings with only five errors, good for a hitting percentage of .405. Bailey Hanner also hit an efficient .346 (12-3-26) and had four digs and blocks.

How It Happened
First Set: Texas State 25-18

Texas State gained a 9-4 lead early which forced a JMU timeout.
The Dukes cut the deficit to 14-10, but two Bobcat kills and a JMU attacking error gave Texas State a 17-10 lead.
JMU got no closer than five (20-15) as Texas State took the first set in commanding fashion, outhitting the Dukes .382 to .163 in the game.

Second Set: Texas State 25-21

Sarah Schnell gave JMU an 8-5 lead, but Texas State scored five in a row to go ahead 10-5.
An ace from Julia McNeley gave the Dukes a 19-16 lead which forced a Bobcat timeout, but Texas State scored three in a row to tie the score at 19-19.
Down 21-20, JMU rattled off five consecutive points to take the second set, capped off by an ace from Rebecca Watkins.
The Dukes finished with 15 kills to just seven for the Bobcats in the second.

Third Set: Texas State 29-27

Texas State held a slim 15-13 lead at the first timeout of the set, with Samantha Wunch picking up two kills to bring her total to that point up to 14.
JMU trailed 22-16 but a kill from Vance trimmed the Texas State lead to 22-21 and a Veldman kill tied the score at 23-23.
The Dukes grabbed a 25-24 lead but the Bobcats scored two straight to hold off the JMU set point. A Texas State attacking error tied the score at 27-27, but a pair of long rallies went the Bobcats' way as they took a 2-1 lead.

Fourth Set: Texas State 25-19

Texas State jumped out 13-9 on a kill from Maggie Walsh.
The Dukes rallied to take a 16-15 lead on a kill from Vance, but the Bobcats quickly regained their footing with an extended 10-3 run to win the match.

Match Notes

Texas State's win evened the all-time series at 5-5 and was the first win over the Dukes since Oct. 1, 2022.
Texas State held the advantage in kills (61-55) and digs (55-47)
The Bobcats also out-blocked the Dukes 12.0 to 11.0, just the third time JMU has finished with less blocks than its opponents this season.
The Dukes are now 3-11 this season when losing the first set.

Up Next
The Dukes and Bobcats will close out the regular season with a match tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m CT)