Madison pounds Patriots

By Mark Powell, contributing writer
Posted on September 24, 2007

With both teams coming into play with identical 7-5 records, a chance to make up ground in the conference was on the line for JMU and George Mason volleyball.

Right out of the gate, the Dukes came with strong attacks against the Patriots but struggled against Mason’s scrappy defense. Madison grinded out a win in the first set, 30-28.

“It was a little rough in the beginning,” senior Jena Pierson said. “They jumped on us and we weren’t ready for it, so we were taken aback.”

As George Mason continued to battle the Dukes, impressive plays emerged from freshman Lindsay Callahan, who delivered a hard spike to show that the Dukes still had some life in the first game. However, this still was not enough to fend off the Patriots and the momentum forced the Dukes to call a timeout down 8-13.

The Dukes came out strong after the timeout, scoring multiple points to get back in the game. Madison coach Disa Garner accepted no responsibility for the change in play.

“I wish it were words of brilliance, however, we just had to get focused and we needed to really work hard,” Garner said. “One of the things we talk about is how ready we are to make a play. We discuss the little things that help you get out of that ‘fog’, if you will. I thought we did a good job and we worked ourselves back in.”

After the timeout, the girls found their rhythm, and after good defense by freshman Sofia Lindroth and an emphatic spike by sophomore

Kaitlin McFaddin, the Dukes tied the score at 19. The defense was led by senior libero Jena Pierson who had a match-high 29 digs.

The Dukes benefitted greatly from faileddigs of George Mason and took the second game by with a comfortable 30-23.

George Mason started to show some life in the third set as they quickly took an 8-2 lead.

“Unfortunately, when we went into the third game we didn’t do a very good job of [setting] the tone and [keeping] them where they were,” Garner said. “We let them back in the game.”

In the back-and-forth set, neither team ever gained more than a two-point lead for more than thirty seconds. In the end, the Dukes play was not enough to shut the door as they lost their only set 31-29.

The Duke’s second chance to seal the victory finally looked prosperous after Jena Pierson started the fourth game off with an ace, her ninth of the year. After three tie-breakers the Dukes finally pulled out a 32-30 victory in the end.

JMU improved to 8-5 on the season, while George Mason fell to 7-6. The Dukes have three days off before they travel to take on Radford Tuesday, Sept. 25.