Oct. 23, 2003

FAIRFAX, VA--Senior outside hitter Aline Pereira (Sao Paolo, Brazil) is currently third in the nation with 6.09 kills per game at the end of the Oct. 19 reporting week, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) reported on Oct. 22.

Pereira has played in 18 matches and 68 games for the Patriots this season and currently leads the Colonial Athletic Association with her kills average. The Brazil native has registered 10 double-doubles on the year and pounded a season-high 37 kills in the five-game win over Hofstra (Oct. 18). In the same match, Pereira broke George Mason's all-time career kill record with her seventh of the night and she now has 2,139 career kills to move past Andrea Smith who nailed 2,108 kills during her career from 1989-93. Pereira has also been named CAA Player of the week twice during the 2003 campaign: Sept. 15 and Oct. 20.

The Patriots (9-10, 5-2) return to action on Oct. 24 at UNC Wilmington with first serve at 7 p.m. This is Mason's first conference match on the road since Oct. 4 when the team competed at James Madison in Harrisonburg, VA.