Oct. 18, 2009

Box Score

BOSTON - The George Mason women's volleyball team continued to roll as it closed out its three-match road trip with a sweep of Northeastern (25-20, 25-18, 25-18) on Sunday afternoon at Solomon Court. Mason improved to 16-6 and 5-2 in Colonial Athletic Association play with its third straight win.

The loss dropped Northeastern's record to 4-3 in the CAA and 11-9 overall.

Mason out-hit the Huskies by a .244-to-.069 margin in the match and slammed seven blocks compared to NU's three. Junior Holly Goode paced the Patriot offense with a match-high 10 kills as Mason picked up its second straight-set victory of the weekend. Britney Brown led the NU offense with nine kills.

The teams were even in the first set through the 8-8 mark before Mason fired off five in a row to take its largest lead up to that point. It was an advantage that the Patriots clung to for the rest of the set, despite NU moving within a point on numerous occasions, including at 20-19. Mason answered with five of the next six points, ending with an ace by sophomore Noelle Fanella, which sealed the victory.

Into the second frame, Mason opened on a 6-2 run and never looked back. The Huskies got close to tying it up including an 8-6 deficit which was expanded by a 5-0 Patriot run to make the score 13-6. Mason led by as many as 10 in the set as they out-hit NU .222-to-.000 in the second set.

After Northeastern led 2-1 out of the break, Mason took control of the third set. Mason's lead was threatened at 8-6, but a 12-4 scoring spree effectively put the match out of reach for the Huskies and Mason held on for the win.

The Patriots return home next weekend, hosting Towson and Delaware on Friday and Saturday evening at the RAC, respectively.