Nov. 2, 2002

FAIRFAX, Va. - George Mason's women's volleyball team closed out the home portion of its schedule with a 3-1 win over Towson Sunday night at John Linn Gym. Game scores were 30-24, 30-32, 30-23, 30-19, as the Patriots improved to 18-7 overall and 12-2 in the CAA. The visiting Tigers are now 19-9 overall and 7-7 in the CAA.

Aline Pereira (Sao Paolo, Brazil) logged a double-double with 20 kills and 11 digs for Mason, while Shelbylynn McBride (Valrico, FL) and Amy Falk (Davis, CA) followed with 12 and 11 kills, respectively.

April Hoffman and Liz Goubeaux, who had 11 kills each, led the Towson offense. Hoffman finished the contest with a double-double, adding a dozen digs to her effort. Lindsey Hardin chipped in with ten kills for the Tigers.

Additional highlights for the Patriots included Jesica Umansky's (Buenos Aires, Argentina) 52 assists and career-high 16 digs and Milena Racic's (Pozarevac, Yugoslavia) nine kills, 10 digs and six blocks.

Mary Clare Coghlan had 37 assists and seven digs for the Tigers, while Lisa Weir recorded a game-high 17 digs.

During game one, Pereira amassed nine of her 20 kills and the Patriots were able to hold off the Tigers 30-24.

In game two, however, Mason was unable to fend off Towson, which overcame the short end of a 28-21 score to take the extended game 32-30.

Game three was George Mason wire-to-wire, and the final game was back-and forth until Mason broke an 11-11 tie and never relinquished the lead.

For the match, the Patriots out-hit the Tigers .279-to-.189 and held the advantage in blocks nine-to-six.

George Mason closes out the regular season on the road next weekend, visiting Drexel Friday and league-leading Hofstra Saturday. The Patriots will then have an off-week before competing in the CAA Conference Tournament, which will be held Nov. 22-24 at James Madison.