Aug. 26, 2006

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Patriots dropped their final match at The D.C. Volleyball Challenge to host George Washington in four games (26-30, 21-30, 31-29, 21-30) on Saturday night at Charles E. Smith Athletic Center in Washington, D.C.

The loss drops the Patriots to 1-2 on the season, while the Colonials improve to 3-0. After winning their first match of the season on Friday against American, Mason lost both of its matches at the tournament on Saturday, falling to Georgetown by an identical 3-1 score earlier in the day. The other teams competing in the tournament - American and Georgetown - both finished with 1-2 records.

George Mason fell behind early in the first game as George Washington scored the first three points on kills by senior opposite hitter Abba Greenleaf, junior outside hitter Janine Brown and senior outside hitter Juliene McLaughlin. The Colonials took their largest lead of the game - six points - at 10-4 before the Patriots began to chip away at the deficit, going on an 18-11 run to take their first lead of the game at 22-21. The lead didn't last long; however, as the Colonials scored the next three points to take a 24-22 advantage.

George Mason came back to tie the score at 24 on successive kills by junior outside hitter Jaqueline Kohler and senior middle blocker Chantal Bodkin-Clarke. Although the Patriots fought hard to pull even, they were unable to regain the lead as the Colonials went on a 6-2 run with the final point coming off a Kelly Kabbes kill to close out the game and put the Colonials ahead 1-0.

The two teams traded points to begin the second game, and George Mason led by a point at 8-7 after freshman setter Katie Corcoran set up freshman outside hitter Laura Turner for the kill. Trailing by one, George Washington took over the game, running off seven consecutive points to take a 14-8 lead. The Patriots never quite recovered and went on to drop the game by a final score of 30-21.

In the third game, the Patriots took an early lead, scoring the first four points before George Washington got on the board. Mason went on to take an eight-point lead at 19-11, but nearly saw the lead slip away when the Colonials came all the way back to tie the score at 21. After that, neither team was able to pull away, until with the score even at 29, freshman outside hitter Rebecca Walter's kill gave the Patriots' game point, and George Mason won its first game of the match when Bodkin-Clarke and Corcoran combined to block McLaughlin's attack.

Mason was unable to capitalize on the momentum of the win, though, falling 30-21 in the fourth and final game.

Three Patriots finished with double-digit kill totals. Walter tallied a match-high 21, while Kohler finished with 15 and Turner chipped in 14. Corcoran recorded her third-straight double-double to begin her career, finishing with a match-high 57 assists and 12 digs. Junior libero Kristen Byler led all players with 25 digs.

George Washington's attack was balanced with four players recording double-digit kill totals, including Brown, who led the team with 16. Senior setter Kaimana Lee led the Colonials with 56 assists.

George Washington was the champion of the 2006 D.C. Volleyball Challenge with its perfect 3-0 record. Despite all the other teams in the challenge finishing with identical 1-2 records, American was declared the second-place team, with Georgetown and George Mason rounding out the final two places, respectively. Due to the three-way tie based on record, the first tie breaker was game-winning percentage and the next tie breaker was points.

The 2006 D.C. Challenge All-Tournament Team was selected by the four head coaches and announced after the conclusion of the final match. The MVP of the tournament was Brown (George Washington). She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Abby Syverson and Greenleaf. Rounding out the team were Rubena Sukaj and Ivana Cebakova of American, Jessica Buffum of Georgetown and Mason's Kohler. Kohler recorded three consecutive double-doubles and led the Patriots in kills in two out of the three matches in the tournament, finishing with a total of 53 in the three matches.

Mason will play in front of its home crowd for the first time this season next weekend when the Patriots host the Brion's Grille/Patriot Invitational Tournament. Six matches will take place in a two-day span on Sept. 1-2, with Mason playing three of them. Campbell, Central Michigan and Lamar will all compete in the tournament along with Mason.