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Virginia Volleyball Rallies For 3-2 Win Over James Madison
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Nov. 21, 2001
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Virginia volleyball team overcame a 2-0 deficit in games and three-match points to down James Madison 3-1 (25-30, 21-30, 30-21, 30-24 and 20-18) in the season finale for both schools Wednesday night (November 21) at JMU’s Godwin Hall. The Cavaliers finish the year with a 9-18 record, while the Dukes closes with a 10-14 ledger.
Fourth-year outside hitter Jenny Harmon (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) led the Cavaliers with 14 kills and 10 digs for a double-double. Harmon also added five service aces. Fourth-year outside hitter Andrea Fischer (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) tallied 13 kills, the last of which was the 1,000th of her collegiate career. She becomes the seventh UVa player to reach the 1,000-kill milestone. Virginia also received 11 kills and five aces from sophomore outside hitter Paige Davis (Austin, Texas/Westlake). Davis also notched a team-high 14 digs for a double-double. Second-year outside hitter Katie Synan (Fredericksburg, Va./Chancellor) added eight kills, eight digs and seven blocks to the Cavalier effort. First-year Lily Phillips (Phoenix, Ariz./Horizon) and second-year Abby Whittenburg (Amarillo, Texas/Amarillo) split the setting duties and notched 20 and 19 assists, respectively. Whittenburg added nine digs and Phillips had eight, while third-year middle Simona Kuipers (Bow Island, Alberta, Canada/Senator Gershaw) recorded 11 digs and five blocks.
JMU sophomore Dana Jones led all players with 15 kills and tied with teammate and junior Jessica Evers for match-high digs honors with 17. Senior Danielle Heinbaugh and freshman Aran Gallagher tallied 14 kills apiece for JMU. Heinbaugh finished her career with 785 career kills to rank seventh all-time at JMU. Gallagher’s effort eclipsed her previous career-high of nine kills.
James Madison outhit the Cavaliers .192 to .137, but UVa led in digs, service aces and blocks. Virginia registered 13 aces to JMU’s 3 and also held a 75-66 advantage in digs. The Cavaliers posted 12.5 team blocks in the match, compared to James Madison’s eight.
The match was the third in the last four between the two teams in which the visitors overcame 2-0 game deficits before posting the victory. The recent trend began in 1998, when JMU was down to match-point in the third game and rallied to win in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers returned the favor, but did not face match-point in game three, in Harrisonburg during the 1999 season. Virginia defeated JMU in three straight games last season.