Dec. 1, 2002
The George Mason women's volleyball team will head to South Bend, IN, to play Michigan State on Saturday, Dec. 7, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, according to an announcement made by the NCAA Sunday night.
It will be the first meeting ever between George Mason (22-7) and Michigan State (19-11). The George Mason-Michigan State winner will face the survivor of the other first-round match between Notre Dame (23-7) and the College of Charleston (29-5) in the second round on Sunday, Dec. 8. Times for the first- and second-round matches will be determined Monday by Notre Dame, the host institution.
For the Patriots and head coach Pat Kendrick, it marks their fifth trip to the national tournament. George Mason earned an automatic berth by winning this year's Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship over James Madison on Nov. 24.
"We're very excited to be playing Michigan State, and I think it's a good draw for us," said Kendrick, who has an overall record of 341-242 in her 18th season with the Patriots. "We know that Big Ten teams are always strong, and it will be good for a CAA team to be exposed to that kind of atmosphere at Notre Dame."
The Patriots enter the contest with Michigan State riding a seven-match win streak and they have won nine of their last 10 matches. George Mason is led by two-time CAA Player of the Year Aline Pereira (Sao Paolo, Brazil) and CAA Setter of the Year Jesica Umansky (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Pereira leads Mason, the CAA and the country with an average of 6.64 kills per game (711 total), while Umansky leads the Patriots with 12.27 assists per game and with 57 service aces (0.53 per game).
Michigan State lost its final match of the regular season Saturday, being swept at home in three games by No. 15 Wisconsin, to finish 11-9 in the Big Ten. The Spartans are led by 6-2 sophomore outside hitter Kim Schram, who has 414 kills (3.73 per game) and 6-2 junior middle hitter Jenny Rood, who has 386 kills (3.64 per game). Junior setter Nikki Colson averages 13.10 assists per game.
Mason is 1-4 overall in the NCAA Tournament, with its last appearance coming in 1996. That year, the Patriots earned a first-round bye and were defeated by Wisconsin, 3-1, in the second round. The team's lone NCAA postseason victory came in 1995, when it knocked off Indiana, 3-0, in the first round before bowing out to No. 1 Nebraska, 3-0, in the second round. Mason's other tournament appearances came in 1993 and 1994.
George Mason won this year's CAA regular season title with a 14-2 mark and captured its sixth conference tournament title with a 3-1 semifinal win over Towson and a 3-2 decision over host James Madison in the championship match.
Pereira, who was selected the conference tournament MVP, hammered home 57 kills (6.33 kpg) over the course of the two matches and was joined on the CAA Championship all-tournament team by Umansky and Natalia Porosa (Scarborough, Ontario). Umansky averaged 10.56 assists per game, while Porosa recorded a pair of double-doubles with 14 kills and 13 digs versus Towson and 10 kills and 12 digs against James Madison.
The team's 22 overall victories this year are the most for the Patriots since 1996 and it marks the seventh time Kendrick, the 2002 CAA Co-Coach of the Year, has guided Mason to 20 or more wins in a season.
