Sept. 16, 2005

Box Score

The George Mason women's volleyball split a pair of matches on the opening day of the James Madison Invitational as Mason lost a Colonial Athletic Association match to James Madison before rebounding to defeat University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. The Patriots struggled hitting the ball against the Dukes but were dominant on the attack against UMES, to improve to 2-5 on the season.

In the day's first match, Mason took on James Madison, fighting valiantly in the first two games before falling somewhat easily in the third. The final score was 30-27, 30-28, 30-21. Mason got 11 kills from Jaqueline Kohler while Chantal Bodkin-Clarke had nine kills. No one else on the team managed more than four kills.

Natalia Porosa and Zulma Rojas each had eight digs against the Dukes while Niki Bernardes added two service aces. Bodkin-Clarke had five block assists while Sarah Hipps had 18 assists and Chelsea Kropp added nine assists. The Dukes were paced by Emilee Hussack's 14 kills while Amanda Snead had 10 digs. Krysta Cannon had 32 assists. James Madison (6-3) hit .262 in the match, including .341 in the second game and .375 in the third. Mason hit .165 in the match but just .105 in the first game and .000 in the third.

In the second game, Mason nearly swept UMES (1-7), but had to settle for a four-set win, downing the Hawks, 30-19, 31-29, 28-30, 30-21. Mason hit .321 in the match and .270 or better in all four games. The Hawks, meanwhile, hit just .108.

Kohler had 12 kills and hit .357, Janelle Wilson had 11 kills and hit .381 while Porosa had 10 kills and hit .350. Bodkin-Clarke added nine kills and hit .400 along with six total blocks. Hipps handed out 26 assists while Kropp dished out 20 and had five service aces and seven digs.. Bernardes had four service aces, Kohler had nine digs, Rojas had six digs and Porosa had four digs.

Mason will return to action on Saturday morning, taking on Iona (3-6) at 11:30 a.m.