Sept. 11, 2004

Box Score

Washington, D.C. - The George Mason women's volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday at the 2004 Georgetown Classic, taking a 3-1 win over Wright State but falling to Georgetown in the nightcap, 3-1.

In the first match of the day, the Patriots jumped out early against Wright State, struggled through an error-filled third game before cruising to a 30-24, 30-19, 15-30, 30-21 win. Niki Bernardes had a career-high 19 kills on 343 attacks with just five errors. Her .389 hitting percentage in the match was also a career high. Freshman Jaqueline Kohler had 13 kills and 10 digs while Jesica Umansky had 45 assists and 12 digs. Natalia Porosa also had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs.

The Patriots hit .236 in the match but had nine errors to go with nine kills in the third game, when they fell behind early. Wright State, which hit .125 in the match, hit .308 in the third game. Things turned around in the fourth game, however, with the Patriots trailing 10-6. They rallied to win 24 of the next 35 points, hitting .500 in the game.

The Patriots finished their first match just after 1 p.m. but had to wait nearly six hours before facing Georgetown. Against the Hoyas, the Patriots were able to take the first game before dropping three straight, losing two of those games by just two points.

The Patriots were better on the attack, with Porosa and Kohler have a game-high 14 kills each, but the Hoyas had 12 blocks while the Patriots had just six. Annie Connor paced the Hoyas with 10 kills and just one error on 18 attacks. She was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Umansky and Bernardes were named to the all-tournament team.

The Patriots return to action next weekend when they play at the Florida State Tournament. The Patriots will take on Winthrop and Troy State on Friday and Florida State on Saturday.