Sept. 23, 2005
Box Score
The George Mason women's volleyball team, hit hard by injuries this week, hosted a battle-hardened Georgia State team on Friday night at John Linn Memorial Gym and the Patriots' struggles continued as Mason was dealt its fourth-straight Colonial Athletic Association loss. The Panthers downed Mason 30-19, 30-20, 30-20.
Mason (3-8, 0-4) was without first-team All-CAA outside hitter Natalia Porosa and the player slated to start in place of the injured senior, Tricia Nelsen, went down with a knee injury in pre-game warm up. That forced Chantal Bodkin-Clarke to play at outside hitter and Julie Flanders took her spot at middle blocker. In the end, none of the affected players hit the ball well. Meanwhile, Georgia State (2-8, 2-3) showed what happens when you open the season by taking on the conference's top-four teams (as determined in a preseason poll of the league's coaches). The Panthers looked confident and showed no hesitation in hitting the ball. The Panthers hit .301 in the match while Mason hit just .033.
The first game saw Georgia State jump out to an early lead and they had no problem building it to double-digits. Mason never got into the opening affair, despite the fact that the .100 hitting percentage in that game was Mason's best of the match. The Panthers hit .478 in the first game and had little problem taking control of the match.
Mason played much better in the second game, as the match stood relatively close, with Georgia State holding a 22-18 lead. But the Panthers won 8 of the final 10 points to take a 30-20 decision in the game. The third game saw Mason lead early, with the Patriots ahead 10-8. But that's when things went south, as Georgia State won 9 of the next 12 points to go ahead 17-13. Mason pulled to within two at 17-15, but a 6-0 run closed the door on any comeback.
Brittany Roche led the Panthers with 11 kills while Alex Blanche and Danielle Gonzalez each had nine. Jordan Thomas had 34 assists, Ana Paula Ferreira had four service aces, Christen Garcia had 10 digs and Gonzalez had five block assists.
Mason got seven kills from Niki Bernardes but she hit just -.045. The only Patriots with positive hitting percentages were Janelle Wilson, who hit .364 with five kills, and Jourdan Dozier, who hit .333, also with five kills. Zulma Rojas had 13 digs and Bodkin-Clarke had four total blocks.
The Patriots return to action on Saturday when they host UNC Wilmington at 7 p.m.
