JMU drops five-setter at Georgia State

ATLANTA – senior Annie Smith had a career-high 17 kills, but James Madison fell to Georgia State in five sets (25-20, 26-28, 25-22, 16-25, 11-15) in Sun Belt Conference volleyball action Friday night in the GSU sports arena.

JMU (5-8, 0-3 Sun Belt) picked up 10 service aces, but Georgia State (10-5, 1-2) finished with more kills (71-56) and hit .281 in the match.

Brenda Reid Finished with 14 kills as a freshman Ayen Nhial recorded a career-high eight layoffs. Freshman setter Jordan Smart posted a career-best 28 assists and liberos Jaydyn Clemmer Collected 23 excavations.

Keionna Mackey paced Georgia State, finishing with 21 kills. Alessia Cappai hit .394 (16-3-33), while Shanelle Martinez recorded a double-double with 35 assists and 11 digs.

How it happened
First set: James Madison 25-20

• The Dukes posted a .323 batting average in the first game while securing four service aces and three blocks.
• JMU took a 10-9 lead on an offensive error by Georgia State and the Panthers called a timeout.
• With the game tied 13-13, JMU used a 5-0 run to take command of the set.
• GSU cut the deficit to three (21-18), but the Dukes scored four of the final five points of the set to take a 1-0 lead.

Second set: Georgia State 28-26

• Georgia State hit .342 in the second set while JMU hit .263.
• JMU took a 5-1 lead with a service ace Julia McNeley.
• GSU trailed 13-10 and tied the score at 16-16 on a finish from Cappai.
• Georgia State rallied with three consecutive points, forcing a Duke timeout with the score at 19-17.
• JMU fought back and tied the score at 24-24 after a kill from Smith.
• The Dukes took a 26-25 lead, but the Panthers scored three straight goals to tie the game at 1-1.

Third set: James Madison 25-22

• Nine draws and three lead changes characterized a hard-fought third set.
• JMU forced the first timeout of the set when a kill from Reid made the score 11-9.
• The teams traded points and a 15-15 tie broke out before the Dukes used a 4-1 run to take a 19-16 lead.
• JMU trailed Georgia State by three straight points at 21-17 before responding with a 3-0 run to reach set point (24-20).
• Sarah Schnell and Nhial combined with a block to hold off the Panthers and give the Dukes the set.

Fourth set: Georgia State 25-16

• Georgia State took an 8-6 lead, prompting a James Madison timeout.
• The Panthers extended their lead to 15-9 on a kill from Kayla Broom, the largest lead of either team.
• GSU kept JMU at bay and forced the fifth set with a convincing win in the fourth set.

Fifth set: Georgia State 15-11

• Georgia State took a 6-3 lead, but JMU battled back to tie the set at 7-7.
• A trio of Panther attack errors gave the Dukes life in the fifth period as the visitors cut the GSU lead to 12-11.
• The Panthers closed out JMU with two kills from Gash and a solo block from Cappai.

Game notes

• With the win, Georgia State ended an eight-game losing streak against James Madison. The Panthers still trail in the all-time series 15-6.
• JMU's 10 service aces mark the third time in 2024 that the Dukes have achieved 10 or more aces. McNeley and Clemmer recorded three each.
• The Dukes are now 2-3 in five-set games this season.
• Clemmer's career total of 1,218 digs is now the fifth-highest in program history, passing Molly Ball (1988-91).

Next

JMU will face Georgia State tomorrow at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.