September 14, 1998

In the final game of the Furama Classsic, the Wildcats took James Madison to five games as Villanova dropped their third straight game to James Madison, 4-15,15-8, 15-7, 13-15, 15-12. In the longest game at the tournament, Villanova jumped on the Dukes early, taking the first game 15-4, keeping the lead, wire to wire. In the next two games, the Dukes never gave the Wildcats a chance as all-tourney selection Lindsay Collingwood punished Nova with 12 kills as JMU took the second and thrid games.

In the fourth game, Villanova fought back from a 5-1 deficit to keep the game alive. This game saw seven ties and five lead changes. Battling point for point, Kristin Fucci service ace ended the game as the Wildcats forced a fifth game, winning the fourth 15-13. In rally scoring, James Madison got an early lead, but allowed the Cats to linger, climbing back to bring the final game to a 10-10 tie. Double service aces by Sara Kidd took the wind out of the Wildcats as the Dukes wrapped up the game to take the match in five.

Villanova was led by Elizabeth Jones who tallied 18 kills and 21 digs. The San Jose native also recorded her 1,000 career kills in front of hometown crowd. Megan O'Brien also had 18 kills, while Breen Eddinger tallied 17 kills in the losing effort. James Madison was led by all-tourney selection Lindsay Collingwood who recorded 25kills 17 digs.

The Wildcats travel to Athens, Ga. next weekend to play in the University of Georgia Invitational. Also attending the tournament is Duke and Oral Roberts.