STATESBORO, Ga. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison volleyball dropped a Friday night road match 3-0 to the Georgia Southern Eagles.

GSU (14-7, 6-3 SBC) took match one of the weekend’s doubleheader 25-23, 25-17, and 25-21 to complete the sweep over JMU (10-9, 5-4 SBC) and snap the Eagles’ two-game losing streak.

Kennedy Louisell led the Dukes with 13 points from a team-best 13 kills. Ayen Nhial and Melisa Ilter led JMU with four blocks each.

The Eagles recorded a slightly better .227 team hitting percentage than James Madison’s .140.

JMU remains in Georgia for the second face-off against Georgia Southern. The Dukes and Eagles have first serve on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 1 p.m.

How We Got Here
Set One – JMU 23, Georgia Southern 25
-Tonight’s closest set featured 11 ties and two lead changes.
-Both teams traded blows on the race to the double digit mark, until a 5-0 run gave the hosts a 13-8 lead.
-JMU raced back to lock the set a 20-20
-GSU secured the win on a 5-3 run.

Set Two – JMU 17, Georgia Southern 25
-Set two saw GSU jump out to a 12-5 lead.
-JMU clawed their way back to being down 18-14 before the Eagles’ 7-3 scoring swing resulting in the hosts taking a 2-0 advantage.

Set Three – Georgia Southern 25, JMU 21
-Similar to tonight’s opening set, the finale featured 13 ties and three lead changes.
-Powered by three straight JMU kills, the Dukes opened the third set with a 4-1 lead.
-GSU quickly recovered, knotting the match at 4-4.
-The two teams traded scores until the hosts tallied a 3-0 run late to complete the sweep.

Match Notes
-Louisell has now recorded double digit kills in 50 career matches.
-Nhial has tallied at least one block in every match so far this season.
-Ilter had her fourth match in a row recording at least one block. She also tallied a season-high five digs.

— JMU Athletics —