Dukes Drop Back-and-Forth Affair to WKU

Friday, September 11

Bowling Green, Ky.

7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT)

James Madison University

2-4,0-0Sun Belt

WKU

5-3,0-0CUSA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
James Madison	17	25	25	22	14	2
Western Ky.	25	16	20	25	16	3

9/11/2026 10:41:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, KY. – James Madison volleyball dropped a five-set thriller (17-25, 25-16, 25-20, 22-25, 14-16) to Western Kentucky on Friday night at the Alyssa Cavanaugh Classic. With the loss, the Dukes fall to 2-4 on the young season, while the Hilltoppers move to 5-3.

JMU bounced back from an opening-set loss to take sets two and three before WKU sealed the win in sets four and five. The Dukes trailed for much of the decisive fifth set, but closed the gap with a 3-0 run to tie the frame at 14-14 before a Dukes service error and a WKU kill closed out the Hilltoppers' marathon win.

Kennedy Louisell led all players with 18 kills and 21.5 points on the evening while Anna Wilson led the JMU defense with nine blocks on the evening. As a team, the Dukes hit at a .270 clip - including marks of .406 and.391 in the second and fifth sets, respectively - while holding WKU to a .183 mark across the five sets.

The Dukes are back in action tomorrow against Pepperdine at 1pm ET to close out the Alyssa Cavanaugh Classic.

How We Got Here

Set 1 - WKU 25, JMU 17

After a back-and-forth start, WKU used four straight points to take a 7-4 lead and didn't allow JMU within two points for the remainder of the frame.
The Hilltoppers hit .457 for the set to JMU's uncharacteristic .185.
While the Dukes tallied 16 blocks on the match, none came during the opening set.

Set 2 - JMU 25, WKU 16

The Dukes went on an early 4-0 scoring run to force a WKU timeout at 8-6 before steadily pulling away.
JMU turned around their offensive attack and hit .406 in set two, adding three service aces for good measure.
JMU finished the set on a 7-1 scoring run to even things up at 1-1.

Set 3 - JMU 25, WKU 20

The Hilltoppers come out hot in set three, with a 4-0 scoring run that forced the Dukes to take a timeout trailing 7-2.
JMU bounced back after the timeout with its own 7-2 run to level things at 9-9, before three straight points forced a WKU timeout at 15-12.
After another JMU timeout, the Dukes closed the set on an 8-1 run, capped by a set-winning service ace from Shelby Davis.
JMU held the Hilltoppers to a -.108 hitting percentage in the set with the help of eight blocks.

Set 4 - WKU 25, JMU 22

WKU took an early lead, hitting over .500 to take a 15-10 lead at the media break.
The Dukes scored four straight points, split by a WKU timeout, to tie things at 20-20, but the Hilltoppers closed the set on a 3-1 to force a decisive fifth frame.

Set 5 - WKU 16, JMU 14

WKU took an early 6-2 lead in the final set, forcing a JMU timeout after a 4-0 Hilltopper run.
JMU battled back repeatedly, with the set seeing three separate ties – including 14-14 - before WKU sealed the win.

Game Notes

Louisell posted a 18-kill, 14-dig double-double, her third of the season. She has reached double-digit kills in every match this season, stretching her streak to 37 consecutive matches dating back to last year. The performance also marked her 30th career match with at least 15 kills. The fourth year also added a season-high four blocks.
This was the second consecutive five-set contest of the season for the Dukes after dropping a five-set match the day prior to EKU.
JMU reached double-digit blocks as a team for the sixth straight match, recording 16 on Friday. Wilson's nine led the evening, following by teammates Ana Toumazatos (7 – new season high), and Ayen Nhial (5).
Addie Norman posted a season-high 12 kills, while Wilson matched her season-high with eight.
Lindsey Large matched her season high with 23 assists, the second-most of the match behind WKU's Kate Rush (38).
Grace Wenrich recorded a season-high 21 assists in the match.
Sydney Lewis recorded a season-high 21 digs.