HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – Kennedy Louisell tallied a program-record 38 kills to lead James Madison volleyball to a five-set win (27-25, 23-25, 25-13, 22-25, 15-10) over Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon inside the Convocation Center.

Louisell finished with 38 kills and a career-high 20 digs, becoming the only player in NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball with at least 35 kills and 20 digs in the same match this season. She Is also the only player in the sport with multiple matches of at least 35 kills.

Louisell surpassed her own record of 37, which she had on Oct. 4 against Georgia State. Through 22 matches, the native of Grand Rapids, Mich., has 455 kills in 86 sets (5.29 per set). She is now fifth on the JMU single-season kills list.

JMU won its ninth straight match to improve to 16-6 and 9-1 in Sun Belt play. The Dukes hit .278 with a season-high 97 digs along with 14 blocks, holding Georgia Southern (16-5, 7-3 SBC) to a .155 hitting percentage.

Louisell’s 38 kills came at a .418 hitting percentage, recording only five errors in 79 attempts. Senior Julia McNeley recorded a career-high 32 digs, becoming the first JMU player since Jaydyn Clemmer in 2023 with 30 or more digs. Anna Wilson also had a career-high nine blocks.

Reagan Barth paced Georgia Southern with 23 kills as four Eagles finished with 10 or more kills.

How It Happened
First Set: James Madison 27-25
• A kill from Alex Myers put the Eagles ahead 15-14 at the media timeout, and a kill from Barth extended the visitors’ lead to 18-15.
• The Dukes rattled off five straight, swinging ahead 21-19. Georgia Southern tied the set at 24-24 on a block, but JMU scored three of the last four points to hang on for the set win.

Second Set: Georgia Southern 25-23
• A kill from Louisell gave the Dukes a 15-13 lead at the media timeout. Out of the break, The score was close throughout before a 3-0 spurt from the Eagles put the visitors ahead 21-18.
• Louisell trimmed the lead to 22-21 on a kill, but the Eagles scored two straight to make it 24-21, and a JMU service error gave Georgia Southern its 25th point.

Third Set: James Madison 25-13
• The Dukes dominated the third set to go ahead 2-1. The Dukes hit .395 while holding Georgia Southern to .024.

Fourth Set: Georgia Southern 25-22
• JMU led 15-10 at the media timeout, but Georgia Southern battled back and tied the set at 18-18.
• The Dukes tied the set at 22-22, but the Eagles rallied for three straight points to force a fifth.

Fifth Set: James Madison 15-10
• Down 6-5, JMU scored four straight to go ahead 9-6 as McNeley recorded a pair of aces in that run.
• A Louisell kill extended the Dukes’ lead to 11-7 and force a Georgia Southern timeout. A kill from Norman and three kills from Louisell was enough for JMU to pull out the victory.

Match Notes
• McNeley’s 32 digs are the most for a JMU player since Jaydyn Clemmer had 35 against Texas State on Nov. 18, 2023.
• Louisell recorded 30 kills for the second time this season after also having 37 against Georgia State. She is the first JMU player with two matches with 30-plus kills in the same season since Janey Goodman in 2016.
• Louisell now has 455 kills, putting her fifth on the single-season JMU kills list and 13 behind Janey Goodman’s 468 kills in the 2015 season for fourth.
• Rebecca Watkins tallied a double-double with 26 assists and a season-high 11 digs.
• JMU is now 7-4 against Georgia Southern and 4-0 in five-set matches in 2025.

Up Next
JMU will play a pair of road matches at South Alabama on Oct. 30-31 in Mobile, Ala.

— JMU Athletics —