Photo credit: Courtney Ryder | The Breeze
JMU volleyball welcomed William & Mary back to Sinclair Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon for a rematch on the court. The Dukes showed no mercy, sweeping the Tribe for the second time this weekend — JMU won the match 3-0 (25-19, 25-7, 25-18), holding William & Mary under 20 points each set.
“I’m really proud of the team,” head coach Lauren Steinbrecher said. “[Winning the series] just helps us continue to build momentum and … to get a little better at details than we were last weekend.”
JMU dominated the first two sets — the Dukes put up a .533 hitting percentage in the second set and held the Tribe to -0.308. The Dukes gave up seven points in the set, tying the season low and marking the fourth time this season JMU won a set while allowing less than 10 points.
Junior setter Caroline Dozier’s 24 assists during the match pushed her past the 500 mark for the season — 522, officially.
“It’s exciting, [but] I don’t really pay attention to that too much,” Dozier said. “The defense has been really stepping up and doing a great job putting me in a good position to go set the ball, and the hitters do an awesome job just adjusting and going up and ripping the ball, so I think I give a lot of credit to the defense and offense for just making my job easier.”
After dominating the first two sets, JMU found itself down at the start of the third after a string of errors gave the Tribe a 6-0 start. Steinbrecher called a timeout to regroup and refocus the team.
“We were struggling a little [with] passing, and then our offense was struggling as well, so we just kind of refocused and got another sideout play and then just slowly worked our way back in,” Steinbrecher said.
Sophomore outside hitter Miëtte Veldman got the Dukes’ comeback started with a kill assisted by Dozier. Dozier and junior middle blocker Sophia Davis each scored service aces, contributing to JMU’s 9-3 run to tie the set.
JMU’s win was a team effort. Offensively, Davis and Veldman had a combined 17 kills — half of the team’s match total of 34 — while freshman middle blocker Annie Smith put up a .625 kill percentage. Defensively, freshman defensive specialist and libero Jaydyn Clemmer led with eight digs, followed by Veldman’s seven.
“I just think we all have such faith in each other,” Smith said. “We know what we can do and our capabilities and we’re always just so supportive of each other.”
JMU improves to 12-4 (6-2 CAA), while William & Mary falls to 3-10 (0-8 CAA). JMU travels to UNC Wilmington for a weekend series Oct. 23-24 at 4 p.m. and 1 p.m., while the Tribe return home to host reigning CAA champion Towson on Oct. 22-23 at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
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