Oct. 3, 2009

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason women's volleyball team took its opponent to five sets for the second night in a row, but unlike Friday's 3-2 win over VCU, the William & Mary Tribe proved too much as they defeated the Patriots, 3-2 (15-25, 26-24, 25-18, 22-25, 15-13) at RAC Gym on Saturday.

Mason (13-6, 2-2) out-hit the Tribe (9-7, 2-1) by a slim .207-to-.162 margin but held a 16.5-to-7 blocking advantage at the net. Sophomore Noelle Fanella led Mason with 19 kills as she set a new career mark for the second straight match, while junior Holly Goode joined her in double figures with 16 kills. Both players achieved double-doubles with 14 digs, as did junior Fernanda Bartels who had 48 assists and 12 digs.

Erin Skipper paced the W&M offense with 23 kills while Lauren Powell had 23 digs and Jordyn Moloney recorded 54 assists.

The Patriots were in control early, cruising to the set-one victory as they held W&M to a sub-zero attack while swinging .333. A 13-3 run broke open a tight contest early on and the Patriots' advantage was never below eight points from then on.

In the second set, the teams swapped leads just twice but the Patriots came back to tie the score late on numerous occasions. Ginny Bray had two kills for the final two points of the set, though, to knot the match at one set all. The Tribe maintained control of the third set throughout, opening on an 11-3 run and limiting Mason to .000 hitting.

Mason trailed 20-15 late in the fourth set but scored five straight points to tie the score and ultimately stave off elimination as Goode's kill on a feed from Bartels at 24-22 pushed the match into the fifth set. In that frame, Mason led by as many as two, including a 12-10 advantage before W&M scored five of the next six points to claim victory.

The Patriots hit the road for their next matchup, a date at James Madison in one week at 7 p.m.