HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – Despite a commanding opening set victory, James Madison volleyball fell to Old Dominion 3-1 (17-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-19) on Friday evening.

The Dukes dropped to 6-7 in Sun Belt Conference action and 11-12 overall while the Monarchs improved to 2-11 in conference play and 6-18 overall.

As a team, JMU hit .144 while the ODU hit .139 as both teams tallied 47 kills apiece. The two squads were also even in digs at 65 each.

Kennedy Louisell led the way offensively for JMU with 17 kills and added 13 digs for her third consecutive double-double. Addie Norman joined her in double digits with 13 kills, tying the season high she set last weekend against Coastal Carolina.

Grace Wenrich posted her own double-double with 15 assists and 11 digs. This marked her third such performance this season.

On the defensive end, JMU held the slight edge in blocks 12-11 as the Dukes saw five players credited with denials. Melisa Ilter led the way 5.0, including a season-best tying two solo blocks.

JMU plays its final home game of the 2026 season on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. The Dukes will honor their seniors prior to first serve at the JMU Convocation Center.

How We Got Here
Set One – JMU 25, ODU 17
• JMU scored the first four points of the contest and opened on a 7-1 run against ODU.
• The Dukes earned their first double-digit advantage at 15-5, coming off a 3-0 scoring run.
• JMU led by as many as 13 in the first set. Once the Dukes established the double-digit lead, the Monarchs never got closer than seven.

Set Two – ODU 25, JMU 22
• The Dukes tallied the opening point, but the Monarchs used a 4-0 run to take the early lead.
• ODU pushed out to an 8-3 advantage, but JMU used its own 4-0 run to chip away at the deficit. The Dukes tied it up at 9-all as they stretched the run to a 6-1 spurt.
• JMU took its first lead since the opening point at 14-13, but ODU countered to change the lead for a third time at 15-14 heading into the media timeout.
• Overall, there were seven tied scores and five lead changes, the last one coming off a 6-1 ODU run to go up 21-17.

Set Three – ODU 25, JMU 23
• ODU took the early lead, going up 11-5 before a JMU timeout sparked a 3-0 Dukes’ run to pull within three.
• JMU was unable to get closer than three until an attacking error by the Monarchs put JMU within two at 19-17.
• The Dukes put together a 4-0 scoring run to tie the match at 21-all.

Set Four – ODU 25, JMU 19
• After a back-and-forth opening, ODU used a 3-0 run to take a 10-7 advantage, the largest for either team up to that point in the set.
• The Monarchs, off a 3-0 run, took a 15-10 lead into the media timeout. The Dukes came out of the break on a 3-0 scoring run to pull back within two. They stretched it to a 6-1 run to tie the match at 16-all.
• ODU pulled back in front with a 4-0 run, a lead they held to close the match.

Match Notes
• Shelby Davis had a career-high 13 digs, the third double-digit dig performance of her career.
• Kennedy Louisell reached double digits kills for the 54th consecutive match with 17. She added13 digs for her third straight match with a double-double, her 10th overall this season.
• Grace Wenrich had her third double-double of the season with 15 assists and 11 digs.
• Louisell had two service aces, giving her 49 for the season. The mark is the second best for a single season in JMU history during the rally era.
• With her four digs, Melisa Ilter needs just one more to reach 100 for her JMU career.
• Ayen Nhial added 4.0 blocks on the evening, moving her to 123 for the season. She needs four more to crack the top 10 for a single season during the rally scoring era.

— JMU Athletics —