HARRISONBURG, Va., Oct. 30, 2009 – Four James Madison players registered double-doubles and the Dukes scored the final four points to pull out the fifth set in a 3-2 victory over Georgia State in a Colonial Athletic Association volleyball match Friday evening in Sinclair Gymnasium.

JMU, which won by set scores of 25-15, 21-25, 27-25, 24-26, and 15-11, won its third in a row for just the second time this season.  The Dukes improved to 10-16 overall and 3-7 in the CAA.  GSU dropped to 16-9 overall and 3-6 in the league.

Neither team could gain an advantage in the decisive set.  JMU went up 11-9 before a JMU attack error and kill by Jamie Freeman tied it at 11-11, prompting a JMU timeout.  The Dukes earned a sideout with a kill by sophomore Kelly Turner (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central).  While holding serve, JMU then tallied the next three points with a GSU ball-handling error, kill by sophomore Holly Wall (Kaukauna, Wisc./Kaukauna), and an ace to finish by junior Lindsay Callahan (Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown).

JMU had four players post double-doubles after entering the night without registering three in a single match since 2007.  Head coach Disa Garner commented, “Four double-doubles is a great step for us.  That’s a balanced performance by a lot of people. . We need to have those numbers to win these close matches.”

Garner added, “I’m proud that we have really turned the corner.  We needed this win to solidify what we did last weekend.  Even though we were tested, we kept our minds right, executed, and made good adjustments.  They know we can win now.  It’s really enjoyable to see them having so much fun and enjoying the moment.”

Wall led the effort with a career high and JMU season high of 19 kills along with 12 digs.  Freshman Danielle Erb (Tampa, Fla./Plant) added 18 kills on .300 hitting with 12 digs.  Callahan posted 14 kills, three assists, 10 digs, four blocks, and the match-clinching ace.  Freshman setter Meghan Wiechmann (Sunland, Calif./Village Christian) totaled a career and JMU season-high 57 assists to go with 12 digs.  Redshirt freshman libero Natalie Abel (Washington, Pa./Trinity) added 20 digs.

Garner stated, “Holly really did a nice job tonight.  As an outside tandem with Dani, they did a great job tonight.  GSU has some good outsides and we were able to stick right with them and even play better.  Jessica Zeroual (Ottawa, Ont./De La Salle) didn’t put up great offensive numbers but had a good blocking night with four.   Having Turner back was great.  She worked really hard this week to get back on the court after injury.  That was key for us and nice to have that flare to the offense.”

Ashley Jones had her CAA-leading sixth triple-double to lead GSU, accumulating 11 kills, 23 assists, and 12 digs.  Vineece Verdun added 14 kills on .419 hitting with five blocks.  Chelsea Perry had 23 assists.  Jamie Freeman posted 20 digs, eight kills, and four blocks.  Audrey Cantrell added to the effort with 17 digs as libero.

In the first set, JMU used a pair of quick runs to turn a 5-5 tie into a 13-6 advantage and cruised to the 25-15 win.  Erb had four kills and Wiechmann added 11 assists as JMU outhit GSU .423 to -.107.  The Dukes won despite six service errors in the set.

JMU led early in the second set by a 7-3 score before GSU rallied to move ahead 9-7.  With a 11-11 tie, the Panthers put together another run to go up 17-12.  JMU cut as close to three at 21-18, but GSU clinched the 25-21 win on a JMU attack error.  Georgia State turned the tide in hitting, leading JMU .286 to .056.  Ashley Jones led with four kills for the Panthers to go with six assists.  Callahan led JMU with five kills in the set.

Set three was back-and-forth and featured 13 ties and five lead changes.  JMU earned set point at 24-22, only to see GSU rally to tie after a JMU service error and attack error.  A kill by Wall on a tipped ball put JMU up 25-24, but GSU again tied with a kill by Verdun.  However, this time the Dukes closed it out with kills by Turner and Wiechmann.  Wiechmann had 17 assists for the Dukes while distributing the sets evenly with four JMU players posting four kills, including Erb, Callahan, Wall, and Turner.  Verdun had five kills on six swings for the Panthers.

Set four was tight throughout with neither team earning an advantage of more than three points.  The Panthers led 21-18, but JMU charged back with kills by Wall and Erb and a pair of GSU attack errors.  The Dukes went on to earn set point at 24-23, but a kill by Ashley Jones tied the score at 24-24.  Waldern then recorded a pair of kills to clinch the set 26-24.  Jones had four kills in the set to lead GSU while Freeman had eight digs.  Wall led JMU with seven kills while Erb added six.  Abel posted 10 digs.

JMU will play its final home match on Saturday night, hosting UNC Wilmington at 7 p.m.  The Seahawks fell Friday night at George Mason 3-0. 

Garner closed by saying, “I’m really proud of the team.  These are important matches this weekend and we need to have wins both nights in order to make a move up in the standings.  These guys have a different mentality now so it’s making it a lot of fun.  And the pep band was great for the event atmosphere tonight.  It really added something special to the experience.

Saturday’s match will feature a contest for best Halloween costume with a prize from Domino’s Pizza as well as a raffle drawing from JMU’s Breast Cancer Awareness Fundraiser.