JMU ends season with win over Wilmington

Kathryn Gariano / staff photographer Ashley Copenhaver and Hanna Porterfield go for a block Saturday.

JMU’s season came to a bittersweet end at Sinclair Gymnasium Saturday night. With its playoff destiny out of their hands, the Dukes beat the University of North Carolina-Wilmington 3-1, but was bounced from postseason tournament contention an hour later.

The Dukes entered Saturday night’s game jostling for a Colonial Athletic Association tournament spot. With only one of the four spots up for grabs, the Dukes needed a win and a George Mason University loss to the University of Delaware to prolong the season.

Despite the importance of these outside factors, the Dukes’ (17-10 overall, 7-7 in CAA) focus was on the game at hand.

"We knew we had to win this game, so this was our only focus," senior middle blocker Kate Fuchs said.

The Dukes started strong against the visiting Seahawks (0-14 in CAA), taking the first game 30-22. They followed that by dropping the second game, 21-30. That win was the Seahawks’ fourth in 56 conference games this season. It also was the fifth time in six matches that the Dukes had dropped the second game.

"We had a mental lapse," Fuchs said.

Sophomore middle blocker Ashley Copenhaver said, "After that, we just relaxed and picked it back up in the third."

Copenhaver led all players with 15 kills.

The Dukes picked up the win by snatching the final two games, 30-22 and 30-11.

The focus then turned to Fairfax as players waited to hear from the other match. Also playing at 7 p.m. were the Blue Hens and the Patriots. The Dukes’ tournament hopes resting on the Blue Hens’ wings were dashed as Delaware fell, 3-1.

Despite the disappointing end, the team saw the season as a success.

"We’re all happy with how we finished," Copenhaver said. "We went out with a bang."

Fuchs added, "It’s a disappointment that we didn’t make it, but we had so many great memories this season."

Fuchs was the only graduating senior and was honored before the game. She had 13 kills for the match and added four blocks to her JMU career record 485.

"To end a career with your own senior night — it doesn’t get much better than that," Fuchs said.