BOONE, N.C. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison volleyball picked up a road Sun Belt Conference victory on Saturday, downing App State in four sets.

JMU (8-6, 1-1) hit .285 as a team and tallied 10 blocks to stifle App State (10-3, 1-1). The Dukes also had a season-high 70 digs.

Kennedy Louisell led the Dukes with 19 kills and 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the season, also tying a career-high four blocks. Ana Toumazatos had 16 kills at a .256 clip (16-6-39), while Addie Norman had 11 kills.

Defensively, four JMU players had double-digit digs, led by 17 from libero Julia McNeley. Ayen Nhial registered six blocks with Anna Wilson and Louisell adding four each.

Maya Winterhoff led App State in kills (14) and blocks (7) as four Mountaineers tallied double-digit kills. Addison Heidemann had 45 assists and 10 digs along with five blocks, and Ali Morris had a double-double with 14 digs and 13 kills.

How It Happened
First Set: James Madison 25-21
• The Dukes rallied from multiple deficits in the first. Trailing 14-10, JMU scored five in a row to go ahead 15-14.
• Tied at 20-20, JMU scored five of the final six points of the set to go ahead 1-0.

Second Set: James Madison 25-22
• Winterhoff picked up a kill to give the Mountaineers a 15-14 lead at the media timeout.
• A block from Ayen Nhial and Louisell gave the Dukes a 21-19 lead, but App State responded with three straight to go ahead 22-21
• JMU answered with four consecutive points to claim the second set. Two kills from Louisell, a kill from Toumazatos, and a block from Melisa Ilter and Nhial helped the Dukes secure a 2-0 lead in the match.

Third Set: App State 25-22
• App State led 15-10 at the media timeout and pushed its advantage to 18-12 on a JMU attacking error.
• A pair of Louisell kills brought JMU to within three (22-19), but a pair of Dukes’ errors gave the Mountaineers set point. A kill from Ali Morris was enough to get the Mountaineers on the board.

Fourth Set: James Madison 25-20
• The Dukes gained an early 7-4 lead on a dump set from Rebecca Watkins. The Mountaineers eventually tied the set at 10-10, but JMU edged ahead 15-13 at the media.
• Consecutive kills from App State’s Lou Johnson gave the Mountaineers a 17-16 lead, but JMU responded with a 4-0 run to surge ahead 20-17.
• App State did not get closer than two the rest of the way as the Dukes held on for the win.

Match Notes
• JMU finished the month of September with an 8-3 record.
• The Dukes hit .285 and now have a hitting percentage of .271 through 14 matches.
• JMU improved to 8-9 against App State in the all-time series.
• Louisell finished with 19 kills today, bringing her season total to 273 (5.15 per set).
• Grace Wenrich had a double-double with 23 assists and 10 digs, her third of the season.

Up Next
James Madison continues Sun Belt play with a pair of home matches against Georgia State on Oct. 3-4.

— JMU Athletics —