HARRISONBURG, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball led James Madison two sets to one, but could not complete the series sweep of the Dukes as the Monarchs fell 3-2 on Friday night at the Convocation Center to split the Royal Rivalry.
ODU trailed 12-8 in the decisive set when Elisa Maggi scored a ball from Ashlynn Belcher before Myah Conway and Emma Schelah followed with a block. A kill by Conway staved off match point at 14-12, but a service error sealed the win for the hosts.
JMU 3, ODU 2
The Dukes (11-13, 6-8 Sun Belt) were ahead 5-3 in the first set when Conway opened up a 4-0 run that allowed the Monarchs (16-9, 5-7) to grab the lead, 7-5. JMU responded with a 4-0 run of its own and then then put together a 5-0 stretch to close out the set at 25-17.
The Monarchs then evened the match with a 25-15 decision in set two. A solo block by Emma Schelah, another block by Schelah and Maggi, and a service ace by Maggi helped build an 8-4 advantage. JMU pulled even at 12-12, but 10 of the last 11 points went to ODU.
Four JMU attack errors, a Bryanna Jones ace and a LeeAnne Lowery kill gave ODU an 8-6 lead early in the third set. The Monarchs later pulled away 14-10 to force a JMU timeout, but the Dukes caught up at 15-15. The home team served set point at 24-22, but a service error, two kills from Jones and another from Lowery secured the set for ODU at 26-24.
ODU fell behind 10-6 in the fourth set and never recovered. JMU held onto the lead from there and forced a fifth set with a 25-18 tally. The Dukes continued that momentum into the final set, racing out to a 7-2 lead. The Monarchs got to within two points multiple times, but came up short, 15-12.
Jones hit .429 for the match and led the Monarchs with a new career best of 24 kills. She added 13 digs for her second double-double in as many matches. Maggi also recorded her second double-double of the week with 17 kills and 13 digs, Belcher finished with 56 assists and 14 digs, and Conway totaled 15 kills with eight digs and five blocks. Maggi, Jones and Schelah all served two aces each, and Schelah made a season high eight blocks.
ODU outhit JMU .258 to .232 and ended up with more points (78-77), kills (64-55), assists (62-52) and digs (66-63). The Dukes held the advantage in service aces (10-6) and blocks (12-8), and the Monarchs also committed more service errors (13-8). There were a total of 21 ties and nine lead changes.
Up Next
ODU concludes the regular season with a pair of home matches against Arkansas State next Thursday and Friday, Nov. 14-15 at the ODU Volleyball Center.