Nov. 20, 2004
Box Score
Towson, Md. -
The George Mason women's volleyball team came to a close on Saturday evening when the Patriots lost to Towson University in the semifinals of the CAA Tournament, 30-19, 30-28, 30-26. The Patriots played even with the Tigers in nearly every statistical category but had no answer for CAA Player of the Year, Liz Goubeaux. The Towson senior had 14 kills, hit .619 and had six total blocks.
The Patriots season closes with a 14-10 mark. It's the sixth-straight winning season for the Patriots, who made the CAA Tournament for the 21st straight season. The Patriots are the only CAA school to participate in all 21 CAA Women's Volleyball tournaments. This year's tournament was hosted by top-seeded Towson.
It took a set for the fourth-seeded Patriots to get comfortable on the court as they never challenged Towson in the opening game. But in the second game, everything went George Mason's way early. The Patriots jumped out to a 9-2 lead and were ahead by as many as eight in the game before Towson began its rally. The Tigers chipped away slowly but made a hard charge when down 20-15. They ran off four straight points to make it a one-point game and finally took the lead and pulled away over the final half dozen points.
The third game was eerily similar, with Mason taking a five-point lead which Towson slowly eroded before finally taking a 24-20 lead and holding off a desperate Mason team.
Natalia Porosa had 11 kills and six digs for Mason while Marie Skelton had seven kills and hit .545 in the match. Niki Bernardes added nine kills and 10 digs while Zulma Rojas had 16 digs.
The loss ended the stellar four-year career of senior setter Jesica Umansky. The four-time All-CAA performer and two-time CAA Setter of the Year had 32 assists and six digs. She finished her career with 4,606 assists, second all-time at Mason, and 164 service aces, fourth all-time at Mason. She also recorded her 1,000th dig just moments before her career ended.
Towson (23-7) will face Delaware (23-8) on Sunday at 5 p.m. in the CAA Championship match with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Delaware defeated Hofstra (19-10) in the other semifinal, 30-21, 30-25, 31-29.
