HARRISONBURG, Va. – Wichita State opened the season with a thrilling five-set win at James Madison. The Shockers won by scores of 27-25, 25-18, 21-25, 24-26 and 19-17.
 
Alex Koon led the Shockers with a career-high 19 kills, while Emma Wright added a career-high 17 kills. Tabitha Brown had a double-double with 13 kills and tied her career-high with 19 digs, while Kali Eaken had a double-double with 35 assists and 13 digs. Giorgia Civita had a career-high 34 digs, while Kara Bown added a career-high nine digs.
 
Redshirt freshman Megan Taflinger had 12 kills in her debut, while redshirt freshman Kora Kauling had 28 assists. Abby Pugh added a career-high eight kills in the match, while Chase Jackson tied her career-high with six kills.
 
SET 1:
• WSU scored five of the last six points to take a 27-25 win
• JMU took a 12-6 lead after back-to-back Shocker hitting errors
• The Shockers answered with a 6-0 run to tie it at 12
• An Alex Koon kill gave WSU its first lead at 18-17
• JMU reached set point at 24-22, but two-straight Duke hitting errors tied it at 24
• Kills from Emma Wright and Abby Pugh gave WSU the 27-25 win
• Megan Taflinger led WSU with four kills, while Emma Wright had three
• Kali Eaken had seven assists and five digs and Giorgia Civita had eight digs
 
SET 2:
• The Shockers took the second set 25-18
• Wright had seven kills in the set to lead WSU
• A 5-0 Shocker run put WSU up 15-7 early
• After a Dukes service error made the score 17-9, JMU used a 4-0 run to pull within 17-13
• The Shockers used two kills from Koon, one from Wright and a block by Koon and Wright to score four of the last five points for the 25-18 win
 
SET 3:
• JMU took a 25-21 win in the third set
• The set went back and forth until a Tabitha Brown kill put the Shockers up 12-10
• After a kill by Pugh tied it at 19, JMU went on a 3-0 run to take a 22-19 lead
• JMU reached set point at 24-20 and won the set 25-21
 
SET 4:
• JMU forced a fifth set with a 26-24 win
• Two kills from Koon gave WSU an 8-7 lead
• JMU used back to back blocks to take a 20-18 lead
• A kill from Pugh and a service ace from Civita tied the score at 22
• Chase Jackson's kill brought the Shockers to match point at 24-23, but JMU scored the final three points for the 26-24 win
 
SET 5:
• WSU fought off three match points to win the set 19-17
• Two Jackson kills gave the Shockers an early 9-5 lead
• JMU answered with a 4-0 run to tie the set at nine
• The Shockers reached match point at 14-13, but JMU used two kills to go in front 15-14
• A Koon kill tied the score at 16 before a Koon/Wright block, a Wright solo block and a Dukes hitting error gave WSU the 19-17 win
 
The Shockers are next in action on Sun., Aug. 26 at Howard at 2 p.m. CT.