Old Dominion (9-9, 1-3 Sun Belt) vs. James Madison (11-4, 4-0 Sun Belt)
Match Info – Friday, Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m.
Location – ODU Volleyball Center (Norfolk, Va.)
Watch – ESPN+ (Saturday)
Live Stats – CLICK HERE
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball team welcomes James Madison to the ODU Volleyball Center for a pair of Sun Belt matches this weekend. The teams open their conference series with a 6:30 p.m. contest on Friday, then play again at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Live stats will be available for both matches, and Saturday will be streamed on ESPN+.
This marks the second year of the TowneBank Royal Rivalry series between ODU and JMU, which amplifies school pride between the two universities and rekindles a decades old rivalry steeped in tradition across all shared sports programs.
TowneBank is a longstanding supporter of college athletics, and they are excited to cheer along the healthy competition between Old Dominion University and James Madison University. TowneBank is fortunate to have a strong alumni base on both sides of the rivalry and looks forward to seeing who will hoist the crown for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Additionally, this weekend marks Fred Chao Camper's Night. All individuals who attended the Fred Chao volleyball camp and show up wearing their camp t-shirt will receive free admission to both matches.
Series History
JMU is ahead 2-0 in the all-time series after taking both matches in straight sets when the teams met on Oct. 7-8 in Harrisonburg last season. In the first match, ODU led the first set 23-22, but the Dukes earned the next three points. The second set was knotted at 19-19, but the hosts put together a 5-0 run en route to a 25-21 decision. JMU then wrapped up the match with a 25-13 total in the final set. Myah Conway scored eight kills and Teresa Atilano reached 23 assists to pace the offense. At the net, Duncan and Burgess made six blocks each and Ashley Peroe and Conway had four each. Jamie Bissmeyer led both teams with 12 digs.
The second match was another 3-0 setback for the Monarchs. ODU was down 16-8 in the first set but fought back to within 18-16. However, the Dukes held on for a 25-21 tally. JMU then took the next two sets, 25-10 and 25-18. Peroe and Conway led ODU in the loss with six kills each, Hailey Duncan and Burgess contributed five kills each, and Atilano ended up with 19 assists. The defensive effort was led by Burgess' six blocks and Bissmeyer's 10 digs.
About ODU
The Monarchs (9-9, 1-3 Sun Belt) hosted Georgia Southern last week, falling to the Eagles 3-1 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday. It marked the first time the two programs have played each other after last season's series in Statesboro was canceled due to Hurricane Ian.
Atilano went into the two matches needing 50 assists to reach 3,000 for her career. The San Diego native finished the first match with 40 and added another 29 in the second. She currently leads the league and ranks fifth nationally with 665 assists this season and is also second in the Sun Belt and 20th in the country with 31 service aces. Conway enters this weekend as the conference leader in both kills and points. Her 256 kills rank 13th nationally and her 289.5 points are 14th.
On the other side of the net, Burgess is currently third in the league with 68 total blocks. Conway is second on the team with 56 and LeeAnne Lowery is third with 47. The back row is led by Kate Kilpatrick, who is up to 205 digs in her freshman campaign. Following her are Atilano with 160 digs and Alice Munari with 120.
Through matches played on Oct. 3, the Monarchs rank seventh among Division I teams with 164 total blocks. ODU is also 17th in the country and atop the conference standings with 796 assists, as well as 19th in the nation and second in the Sun Belt with 850 kills. The team is also listed 130th in the RPI.
About James Madison
The Dukes (11-4, 4-0) are receiving votes in the latest AVCA rankings and find themselves listed 12th in the RPI. JMU opened conference play at App State, defeating the Mountaineers in four sets on Sept. 22 and Sept. 23. The team then hosted Texas State last week, sweeping the Bobcats on Thursday and earning a four-set victory on Friday.
Libero Jaydyn Clemmer was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday after averaging 6.29 digs per set against Texas State. She recorded 19 digs in the first match and a career-high 25 in the second. She also had 22 receptions with no errors in the series. Miëtte Veldman has the team highs in kills (195) and points (222.5) and is third on the team in serving with 15 aces. Sophie Davis follows with 151 kills and Brenya Reid is third with 112 kills. Setter Rebbeca Watkins has 500 assists with a team-best 22 aces. Veldman follows Clemmer with 155 digs and Davis leads the defensive effort at the net with 64 blocks.
As a team, the Dukes are second in the Sun Belt in aces per set (1.77) and third in winning percentage (.733). The 2022 Sun Belt regular season and tournament champions were picked to win the league's East Division with 13 first-place votes. Veldman was named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Davis the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Head coach Lauren Steinbrecher, the 2022 Sun Belt Coach of the Year, is in her 14th season leading the Dukes.
Up Next
ODU will head down I-95 for a Sun Belt series at Coastal Carolina next Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13-14.
ODU Rounds Out Homestand Against JMU
