Weekend Preview

It's Friday, and that means JMU sports are busy. The 7-1 women's soccer team has a home game at 7 p.m. against Georgia State. It's their first Colonial Athletic Association game of the season, and they play their second CAA game against UNC-Wilmington Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Madison field hockey team travels to Philadelphia for its third CAA game. The Dukes play against Drexel today, and move to Hempstead, N.Y. for their fourth CAA game Sunday against Hofstra. JMU is ranked seventh nationally, and has sole possession of first place in the conference standings at 2-0.

JMU volleyball has won seven out of its last eight matches and looks to extend a three-game winning streak today. The Dukes play their second and third CAA matches this weekend at home, starting with a 7 p.m. match against Towson at Sinclair Gymnasium (located in Godwin Hall). Sunday brings Delaware to Sinclair Gymnasium in another 7 p.m. match. Madison is 9-5 overall, and currently tied with Delaware and Hofstra for first in the conference at 1-0 in CAA play.

Women's cross country competes in the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, Pa. today, an event they tied for 11th last year in a 35-team field. Reigning CAA champion and senior Dena Spickard finished 10th individually in the race in 2006, and leads a young JMU squad. Freshmen and sophomores make up 17 members of this year’s team, while there are only seven juniors and seniors combined. The Paul Short is one of four races left before the CAA Championships take place Friday, Oct. 26.

The JMU men's tennis team competes in the Virginia Open Friday through Saturday. Two weeks ago, the Dukes compiled a score of 2-11 in the UVA Fall Classic. The Virginia Open is Madison's second tournament of the season, and also their second trip to Charlottesville. Eleven teams are competing in the tournament this weekend, including CAA foes George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth, and William & Mary.

The Madison football team plays its second conference game Saturday against a surging Villanova squad. The Wildcats have won five straight CAA games dating back to a victory at William & Mary on October 28, 2006. Both JMU and Villanova are riding three-game winning streaks, and the only loss for each squad was to an ACC opponent in week 1 (Sept. 1). The Dukes lost at North Carolina 37-14, and the Wildcats lost at Maryland 31-14.

Last year, Villanova handed then fourth-ranked JMU its first CAA loss by one point (21-20), and broke a seven-game Madison winning streak. The Dukes went on to thrash Towson 38-3 in their last regular season game, but the loss to Villanova cost them a top-four seed in the 16-team NCAA playoffs and a home playoff game. Instead, the sixth-ranked Dukes traveled to fifth-ranked Youngstown State and lost in a controversial match-up 35-31.

However, Saturday's game is much more than a grudge match; a win would give Madison sole possession of second place in the CAA South Division. JMU is tied with Villanova in the division at 3-1 overall, 1-0 conference. After they play Villanova, Madison faces two teams with a combined one win (through four games) when they play at Northeastern on Nov. 6 and at Rhode Island on Nov. 13. Villanova will look to play spoiler once again during JMU's Family Weekend, as both teams chase undefeated Delaware in the CAA South Division.