Coming off a hard-fought loss to George Mason on Friday night, the Georgia State volleyball team battled once again on Sunday afternoon, but fell in four sets to James Madison (9-12, 3-2 CAA). Sophomore Rachel Boryc earned her fourth consecutive double-double, while freshman Torrie Brown scored a career high 15 kills.
The Panthers (1-17, 1-4 CAA) came out strong in the first set and took a commanding 9-5 lead on a kill by Brown. Sophomore Ashley Jones would net her first kill of the match midway through the set to put the Panthers up by four again at 13-9. State would continue to lead most of the set and take a 19-16 lead on a kill by senior Liz Schaab. However, James Madison's Kelsey McNamara would spark a 9-1 run that would give the Dukes the first set, 25-20.
The Dukes would come out strong in the second set and take an early 6-3 lead before a kill by Brown and a JMU attack error cut the deficit to one. James Madison would continue its attack and never surrender the lead, building it to seven at 19-12 midway through the set. State would make a run and on another kill by Brown, would cut the deficit to three at 20-17. Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Panthers would get as JMU would use a 5-0 run to finish the set, winning it by a 25-17 margin.
State would come out motivated after the intermission. On an error by McNamara, the Panthers would take a 4-1 lead. After James Madison tied the scored a 8-8, the team would exchange points as neither side would build more than a one-point lead until State went up by a pair at 15-13 on a service ace by sophomore Alysa Long. State would never trail again in the set and led by another two kills by Brown, would take the third set, 25-21.
The Panthers would come out strong again in the fourth set and on an error by JMU's Kay Weninger, take an early 9-6 lead. An 8-2 run by the Dukes would put JMU up 14-11, but State would come right back on a kill by Jones to cut the deficit to two. The Panthers would go down by five at 20-15, but would make one last push to send the match to five sets. A kill by Jones and an attack error by McNamara cut the deficit to three at 22-19. Another kill by Jones would cut the deficit to two, at 24-22, but it would not be enough. A kill by JMU's Holly Wall won the set, 25-22, and the match for the Dukes.
Jones finished the match with 14 kills, while Schaab added 10. Boryc's double-double included 27 assists and 11 digs.
The Dukes were led by Kay Weninger's double-double of 16 kills and 11 digs, while McNamara added 14 kills. Lauren Miles scored a match high 44 assists.
The Panthers will start a four-match road trip next Friday night in Boston as State takes on Northeastern beginning at 7:00 p.m. State will return home on October 28th to face Kennesaw State.
