Sept. 20, 2005
Box Score
The George Mason women's volleyball team played an emotional four-set match against George Washington on Tuesday evening and when the emotion ran out, the Colonials were left with the win, defeating Mason, 30-20, 27-30, 30-21, 30-23 at John Linn Memorial Gym in Fairfax, Va.
The Colonials (4-7) dominated early in the match, establishing a 10-point lead early and maintaining it late into the first game. Mason hit just .059 in the opening stanza while George Washington hit .290. Trailing 28-20, the night turned worse for Mason when senior outside hitter Natalia Porosa went to the floor with a knee injury. The Colonials were able to close out the game and take a 1-0 lead.
With Porosa sidelined, her teammates rallied around her, coming out strong in the second game and taking a lead early in the game. Mason (3-7) built on that lead, pulling ahead by double digits before the Colonials rallied to pull to within two at 28-26. But the Patriots did not waste the hard work, as Mason closed out the game. The Patriots hit .310 in the second game while holding the Colonials to .158. Jaqueline Kohler was the star of the game, recording eight kills and six digs for Mason.
The third game saw the Colonials reassert themselves as George Washington pulled out to a 16-9 lead and stayed on top with strong play from Janine Brown, who had four kills and five digs. Kohler matched that with six kills and five digs but she didn't get enough support from her teammates as Mason hit .136 in the game.
The fourth game was the tightest one of the match. George Washington was able to take a 13-9 lead, but struggled to push it beyond four points. The Colonials finally did so at 21-16, and later at 23-18. In the end, the Colonials were able to just trade points with the Patriots before winning the final two points for a 30-23 win. Lindsey Vernand had four kills in the final frame for George Washington while Juliene McLaughlin added six digs.
Kohler finished with a match-high 22 kills while hitting .304. She also had 16 digs. Janelle Wilson had nine kills and hit .368 while Julie Flanders had eight kills and hit .438. But they were the only Patriots with 10 or more attacks to finish with a positive hitting percentage. Zulma Rojas had a match-high 18 digs for Mason and Wilson and Jourdan Dozier each had five total blocks. Sarah Hipps added a match-high 47 assists.
George Washington was paced by Brown's 17 kills and 12 digs. McLaughlin added 11 kills and 15 digs while Jessica Vesey had 12 digs from the libero position. Vernand had nine kills, Kelly Kabbes added eight kills and Kaimana Lee had 28 assists.
The Patriots return to action on Friday, hosting Georgia State in Colonial Athletic Association action at 7 p.m. George Washington plays at Xavier on Friday at 7 p.m.
