Nov. 20, 2003

NEWARK, DE ... George Mason University senior outside hitter Aline Pereira (Sao Paolo, Brazil) has been named the women's volleyball 2003 Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year by a vote of the league's head coaches, marking the third consecutive year she has won the award. The announcement was made Thursday at the pre-tournament banquet for the 2003 CAA Volleyball Championship, which will be held at the University of Delaware Nov. 21-22.

Pereira is the second player in CAA history to become a three-time women's volleyball player of the year, joining William & Mary's Heidi Erpelding who won the award from 1986-88. Pereira led the conference all season in kills average and closed out the regular season averaging 6.61 kills per game, which is also first in the nation.

In addition, Pereira ranks fourth in hitting percentage (.295) and fifth in service aces (0.39 sapg) among conference peers. Throughout the 2003 campaign, Pereira received CAA Player of the Week accolades three times on Sept. 15, Oct. 20 and Nov. 17. Pereira earned the final conference honor after nailing a career-high 43 kills at Hofstra on Nov. 14, which also matches the NCAA season-high and now sits first in Mason's record books in single-match kills. Pereira began her career at George Mason as CAA Rookie of the Year (2000), which was not awarded when Erpelding was at William & Mary.

Junior setter Jesica Umansky (Buenos Aires, Argentina) represents Mason on the All-CAA second team for her efforts during the 2003 campaign. Umansky finished the regular season with a team-leading 11.13 assists per game, which is also third in the conference. Umansky dished out a career-high 73 assists in a win over Hofstra on Nov. 14, which also mirrors the fifth-best in single-match assists in Mason's history. Umansky recorded 12 double-doubles in 2003 and registered a season-high 18 digs at Maryland (Sept. 16). Last year, Umansky was the inaugural winner of Setter of the Year.

The Patriots, which are the No. 2 seed, will face third-seeded James Madison on Nov. 21 with first serve at 4:30 p.m. in the first semifinal match of the CAA Championship. The remaining schools in the four-team field are top-seeded Towson and No. 4 Hofstra.