STATESBORO– Once again hitting .500 in a set and never looking back, Georgia Southern volleyball (17-2, 7-1 SBC) earned a pivotal sweep over James Madison (10-10, 5-5), remaining in the driver's seat in the conference.

"The team was pretty dialed in all week in practice," head coach Chad Willis said. "It was huge to come in and get two wins at home, continue to protect Hanner and stay undefeated here. We fed off Eagle Nation and the support that we're getting from them. It was a solid weekend all the way around."

It was all Eagles early on in the opening frame, reaching a 9-5 advantage on a Lydia Seymour and Kirsten Barrett combined block. GS was the first to 15 after Reagan Barth's solo block, leading 15-8.

The Eagles faltered after that with the Dukes sprinting ahead 21-20. Willis took a timeout and the Eagles regained momentum, closing the set on a 5-0 run with Seymour and Jordan Christy recording block assists.

The run continued in the second frame. Up 12-6, the Eagles went on a 7-0 run to go up 19-6 with Maggie Sale and Paige Powers recording a block assist. Barth ended a dominant set with a kill, winning 25-11 and hitting a sparkling .577 with just one error.

After trading scores through the first 10 points on each side in the third frame, the Eagles pulled away briefly after three straight kills by Powers to lead 14-10.
JMU once again battled to take the lead at 20-19, but another timeout quelled the rally as Seymour and Powers added kills to seal a 25-22 set win and three-set sweep of the Dukes.

Powers recorded 14 kills to lead the way, while Barth notched 10 and 17 digs - leading the team in the latter and becoming the first Eagle this season to record four straight double-doubles and first since Katie Bange did so in 2016.

On the defensive side, Lovett (13) and Gray (12) were in double figures in digs, while senior Logan Jones added seven to spearhead the defensive efforts, notching a pair of aces.

"It starts with our blockers. They're our first line of defense," Jones said. "When they make a good jump on the hitter, it makes our lives a lot easier as defenders."

Seymour's three blocks were a team-high, and Barrett recorded 33 assists to lead the way. Barrett surpassed Kim Foytich for tenth all-time on the assists list, now at 1,453.

The Eagles remained in a chokehold on first place in the East, improving to 17-2 and 7-1 in conference. The team remains a perfect 12-0 at home, their best home record in program history.

The team has recorded 16 or more wins in four consecutive seasons for the first time since 2010-13, illustrating the remarkable turnaround under Willis.

"It's all credit to our people," Willis said. "Everyone from the student-athletes who came before us, the seniors that set a great tone in terms of what we're trying to do [after last season]. From a culture standpoint, the kids that we have here now, our assistant coaches, our support staff and everyone who is pouring in everything behind the scenes, it takes a village, and I couldn't be more proud of where we are as a program, and I want us to continue to get better."

Jones echoed the sentiment of the development of the roster during her four years here.

"It's been awesome," she said. "Freshman year we didn't really know what to expect coming from the previous years, but just coming up now as a senior, it's been awesome to see this program progress. I think we all know what we can do, and it's going to be an exciting finish."

Georgia Southern will look to keep rolling against a tough road opponent in Coastal Carolina next Friday.