NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball fell in straight sets, 3-0 to James Madison on Friday night in the first match of this weekend’s TowneBank Royal Rivalry series at the ODU Volleyball Center.
The Monarchs are now 5-19 on the season with a 2-11 mark in Sun Belt play.
JMU 3, ODU 0
A couple of Katie Rakoski kills and a block by Rita Benidio and Emma Schelah gave ODU a 4-2 advantage in the first set. Anoter successful attack by Rakoski followed by an attack error on JMU’s Kennedy Louisell pushed that lead to 6-3. The Dukes (19-6, 12-1 Sun Belt) then put together an 8-0 response that was highlighted by four service aces from Louisell. Wiktoria Zagumny countered with a kill and ace of her own to cut the deficit to 15-10, but JMU pulled away 22-12 as ODU used one of its timeouts. The two teams traded points from there as the guests captured the opening set, 25-15.
The Monarchs played a much closer second set. Knotted at 10-10, Schelah converted a couple of attack attempts and Benidio added an ace to put ODU in front, 13-10. JMU was forced to head back to its bench after kills by Elisa Maggi and Rakoski made it 17-13. Old Dominion had good position at 22-18, but couldn’t stop a 5-0 run that allowed JMU to wrestle away the lead, 23-22 on a Julia McNeley service ace. Zagumny assisted Maggi for another tie at 23-23, but back-to-back ODU attack errors gave the visitors the set at 25-23.
In the third set, a Tiana Stubbs kill and an ace by Maggi had the Monarchs ahead, 11-8. The Dukes then rattled off four straight points to force an ODU timeout. Later in the set, Old Dominion seized back control, 17-16 on a Stubbs solo block. The Dukes earned the next five points, but a Maggi ace tied the set at 22-22 as JMU burned a timeout. Benidio scored a kill for another tie at 23-23, but Louisell scored two kills of her own to bring the match to a close.
Benidio paced ODU with 13 kills with a .429 hitting percentage. Schelah and Maggi scored seven kills each, and Rakoski chipped in six kills. Zagumny’s final line included 28 assists with eight digs, and Maggi served a pair of aces. The defensive effort was led by Kilpatrick with 13 digs, Schelah made three blocks, and Rakoski and Stubbs had two blocks each.
ODU had more kills (39-35), assists (35-33), and digs (40-37), but JMU served more aces (7-4) and recorded more blocks (13-5). There were 27 ties, with 10 in the second set and 14 in the third set, and 12 lead changes.
Up Next
The TowneBank Royal Rivalry continues tomorrow with a 2 p.m. first serve at the ODU Volleyball Center. The match marks Senior Day for the Monarchs, and the team will recognize LeeAnne Lowery during a pregame ceremony.