Dukes Make CAA Tourney as #2 Seed

Everything went right for the JMU women's volleyball team this past weekend. They took care of the own business, winning both games, and got help from everyone it needed. The Dukes were looking at getting a 3rd and 4th seed, but when VCU lost to William and Mary in five sets on Friday and Towson beat Georgia State in three sets, JMU was able to defeat the odds and grab the #2 seed. 

On Saturday, George Mason saw it's postseason chances end after Northeastern beat them on their home court. With that win, Northeastern became the #3 seed and will be JMU's next opponent. But before we get to that let's recap the weekend:

Friday night, the Dukes played their biggest match of the season against Northeastern. They probably played their best ball of the season, defeating them in four sets, but senior outside hitter Lindsay Callahan felt they could have finished that team off in three. 

"I think after losing the second set, there was nothing special they did," Callahan said. "It was us letting the lead go so just knowing that we can be the team that were going to be is a good feeling."

The Dukes won the contest by the score of 25-12, 23-25, 25-22, 25-1. Once the game was over, assistant coach Casey Steinbrecher went up to head coach Laura Steinbreacher and shouted the news that, "Towson beat Georgia State in 3!" That news was huge for the Dukes because a win on Saturday against 11th place Hofstra would put the Dukes in the tournament. 

Well, on Saturday they did their job and defeated Hofstra, again in four sets, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19 and 25-23. As stated earlier, the Dukes were able to get the #2 seed for next weekend’s tournament in Delaware and will face Northeastern, a familiar foe. 

JMU complete their regular season with a record of 22-7 and 10-4 in the conference. This is the highest Madison has been in the CAA Tournament since 2006.

If JMU can get by Northeastern on Saturday (which they should), they will face an opponent it hasn’t beaten this season in Delaware or VCU. I expect Delaware to win in four and face the Dukes in the CAA Championship game, with the winner going to the NCAA Tournament.

-MO