Oct. 9, 2005
Box Score
The George Mason women's volleyball team hosted the Towson Tigers for the second time in three days, all in the hopes of finishing a single Colonial Athletic Association match. The Patriots and Tigers began their match on Friday evening after a 50-minute delay due to a leak in the roof of John Linn Memorial Gymnasium. After a temporary patch failed to hold, play was suspended with Towson ahead 30-26, 17-14.
On Sunday, the teams retook the floor with Mason the aggressor and the Patriots stretched the Tigers to four games before falling to Towson, 30-26, 30-27, 22-30, 30-24. For a brief moment on Sunday, it appeared as if the match was destined for five games, as Mason jumped out to a 12-5 lead in the fourth game. But Towson went on a 10-0 run and won 25 of the final 35 points to win the game and the match.
The first game saw Towson (20-3, 8-1) establish itself early, taking an 8-4 advantage and holding onto a lead of three or more points down to the wire. The second game saw Mason (4-12, 1-8) have a strong hitting game, especially after play resumed on Sunday. The teams had been tied at 14-14 before Towson won the final three points before the delay. That edge proved critical, as the teams were 13-13 in the game on Sunday.
Mason was able to rally to tied the score at 26-26 and 27-27 before Towson won the final three points, behind a Mason service error, a kill from Maddie Haseltine and a service ace by Alison Essink.
The third game was one of the most solid games the Patriots have played in 2005. Mason jumped out to a 10-6 lead and fought off several Towson comebacks. The Tigers closed to 10-8 and 12-10 before Mason slowly pulled away. The Patriots finished off the match behind a kill from Niki Bernardes and a Towson hitting error.
The fourth game saw Mason open up with a dominant stretch of hitting. Bernardes, Jaqueline Kohler and Chantal Bodkin-Clarke all had kills while Bodkin-Clarke and Julie Flanders played well on the block. That allowed Mason to open up a 12-5 lead. But things unraveled for Mason behind the serve of Towson's April Hoffman. She served 10 straight points as Towson turned the 12-5 deficit into a 15-12 lead. Hoffman's run ended on a service error but Kim Snider picked up where she left off, serving four straight points to make it 20-15. The Patriots couldn't get any closer than four the rest of the way, and despite a brief four-point rally at the end of the game, Mason fell to Towson on a Lindsey Hardin kill.
The Patriots were led by Kohler's 17 kills and 15 digs. Zulma Rojas added a match-high 25 digs while Niki Bernardes had 13 kills and 13 digs. Bodkin-Clarke had 10 kills and hit .412 with eight total blocks while Flanders had 10 kills and two total blocks. Janelle Wilson added six kills and eight total blocks. Hoffman paced Towson with 18 kills and 17 digs. Hardin had 15 kills and Christina Grampler added 10 total blocks.
Mason is next in action on Friday when it hosts Northeastern at 7 p.m.
