HARRISONBURG, Va. – Myah Conway, Bryanna Jones and Ashlynn Belcher all recorded new career highs as Old Dominion volleyball completed a 3-2 comeback victory over James Madison on Thursday night in the first match of this season’s TowneBank Royal Rivalry series.
A couple of 3-0 runs allowed the Monarchs to pull ahead 9-6 in the decisive set. After calling a timeout with a 13-10 lead, Conway scored back-to-back kills to seal the win for ODU. It marked the program’s first against JMU.
ODU 3, JMU 2
After Conway put away a ball from Belcher, a JMU attack error and an ace by Jones helped the Monarchs (16-8, 5-6 Sun Belt) go up 8-7. Another couple of service aces from Kate Kilpatrick helped extend that lead to 13-8, but the Dukes (10-13, 5-8) came up with a 13-1 response and captured the opening set at 25-17.
ODU led the next set 4-3 as Conway and LeeAnne Lowery recorded a block before Jones followed with a pair of kills. JMU then went up 14-8, but Conway closed the gap with four kills that highlighted a 5-0 run. The Monarchs jumped ahead 22-20 and served set point at 24-23, but the Dukes grabbed another set with a 29-27 tally.
Down 9-8 in the third set, another Conway kill opened a 9-1 run that was punctuated by a pair of Alexa Earle service aces. ODU remained in front from there and won the set by a margin of 25-22.
JMU led 16-13 in the fourth set, but the next seven points went to ODU as Elisa Maggi served a couple of aces and the Monarchs seized the lead, 20-16. The hosts looked to clinch the match point at 24-23, but a couple of Jones scores kept ODU’s hopes alive. A block by Conway and Emma Schelah knotted the score at 28-28, and two more kills from Conway sent the match to a fifth set.
The Dukes held a slim 4-3 advantage in the final set when Conway, Lowery and Jones combined for three-straight kills. After JMU knotted the set at 6-6, Jones, Lowery and Maggi had three successful attacks to force a timeout by the home team.
Conway hit .242 and paced the offense with a new career best of 26 kills, Jones followed with a career high 19 kills to go with 13 digs, and Maggi also recorded a double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs. Belcher eclipsed her previous high of 54 assists with a 62-assist performance, and Maggi and Jones served three aces each. Kilpatrick led ODU’s back row with 27 digs, Conway made five blocks, Schelah chipped in four, and Lowery ended her night with three blocks.
The Monarchs combined to hit just .179 in the match, but ended up with more kills (69-65), more aces (10-9), and more assists (64-61). There were a total of 49 ties, 13 of them in the second set and 14 in the fourth. Tonight also had 21 lead changes.
ODU is now 5-3 in matches that have gone five sets this season. It’s also the second time this season that the Monarchs have trailed two sets to none and come away with a victory. ODU was down 2-0 at George Mason on September 12 and came back to defeat the Patriots, 21-19 in the fifth set.
Up Next
ODU and JMU return to the Convocation Center for another 6 p.m. match on Friday.