Photo credit: Courtney Ryder | The Breeze
With first place in the CAA on the line, JMU volleyball left it all on the court. In the first of two matches this weekend, JMU swept the Huskies 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-16).
“Our team came [out] with the best mentality today,” freshman defensive specialist Madilyn O’Toole said. “We were really pumped to come out here and play.”
JMU came out strong in the first set. The Dukes brought intensity to every drive — powerful kills from sophomore outside hitter Mïette Veldman and junior outside hitter Chloe Wilmoth gave the Dukes an early lead. Despite a 3-0 scoring run from the Huskies, JMU held its lead and won the first set 25-17.
“We really wanted to focus on the little things on our side of the court,” Veldman said. “Coming off last weekend, we knew we had a lot to work on and there was a lot of stuff that we had to do on our side, and I think we did execute it pretty well.”
JMU continued to dominate the court in the second set. Two scoring runs for the Dukes — 7-0 and 4-0 — propelled them ahead of the Huskies and helped JMU win the second set 25-15.
The Huskies challenged the Dukes’ control in the third. Unlike the first two sets, JMU was unable to grow a strong lead — the Huskies stayed on their heels and maintained a one- or two-point differential.
A 6-2 scoring run gave the Dukes momentum to close out the match. The Dukes finished their sweep with kills from Veldman and Wilmoth, winning the third set 25-16.
“I think that it’s really competitive for the top spot — we knew that [going into the match],” O’Toole said. “We’re gonna have to fight really hard and focus on the details.”
The Dukes’ win was a team effort. Veldman led the offense with 18 kills, while senior libero Savannah Marshall led the defense with 10 kills. Junior setter Caroline Dozier put up 31 of JMU’s 37 assists.
“I think tomorrow we’re going to have to bring more,” Veldman said. “The whole season’s been a battle, but the rest is crunch time — I think getting some confidence is good, but I think we’re [going to] have to keep our head down and keep going because there’s still a lot to do.”
Steinbrecher said wins like this help the team’s ability to face any opponent on any given day. She said there’s work to be done to come out even stronger in tomorrow’s matchup.
“We missed a few [plays] which we’re going to talk about to tighten up tomorrow,” Steinbrecher said. “I thought our right side offense was just a little bit off [and] we missed a few block setups — very small things, but things I think we can improve for tomorrow.”
JMU improves to 14-5 (8-3 CAA), while Northeastern falls to 11-10 (7-4 CAA). The two teams battle it out again Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. in Sinclair Gymnasium. Heading into the series, JMU and Northeastern were in a three-way tie for No. 1 with Towson — another JMU win tomorrow could put them one step closer to claiming the regular season title.
“At this point, I don’t even know if it’s so much about getting wins as [it is] getting ready to be able to play the way you need to in tournament time,” Steinbrecher said. “I just thought everyone did their role really well — everyone was super disciplined and paid attention to details.”
Story originally published by The Breeze.
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