Nov. 6, 2009

Box Score

Williamsburg, Va. - The George Mason women's volleyball team took a big step toward wrapping up a spot in the CAA Tournament on Friday evening as the third-place Patriots traveled to fourth-place William & Mary and Mason came away victorious, downing the Tribe, 28-26, 23-25, 25-16, 25-15. Mason is now 20-7, 9-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association while William & Mary is 15-10, 7-4.

Rebecca Walter had 18 kills with a .429 hitting percentage while Noelle Fanella added 14 kills and eight digs. Holly Goode had 12 kills, eight digs and four blocks while Fernanda Bartels had 46 assists and 14 digs. Koala Matsuoka came up with 29 digs as the Patriots hit .306 in the match with 54 assists and 83 digs. William & Mary hit just .140 with 45 assists and 69 kills.

In the opening set, Mason stormed out to a 15-9 lead before the Tribe rallied to take a 23-22 lead. The match was tied at 24-24, 25-25 and 26-26 before Mason put things away behind a Walter kill and a Fanella service ace. Mason hit .250 in the set while William & Mary hit .172.

The Tribe jumped out big to start the second set, going ahead 11-2. The Patriots responded with a 14-5 run to make it a 16-16 contest. Neither team could get separation at that point until Katie McCarney and Erin Skipper had back-to-back kills, turning a 23-23 score into a 25-23 second set win. The Tribe hit .238 in the set while Mason hit .278 but the Patriots made three service errors while the Tribe had none.

The drama ended midway through the third set. With the score tied at 13-13, Mason ran off a 12-3 run to close out the set as Laura Turner and Fanella each won three straight points on their serve. In fact, of the Tribe's three points, two came on Mason service errors. Mason hit .333 in the set while William & Mary hit just .097

The final set was never close as Mason went ahead 11-1 and then cruised to the match-clinching victory. The Tribe hit a match-low .042 while Mason hit .368.