Aug. 29, 2009

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The George Mason women's volleyball team jumped out to a two-set lead and held off the Georgetown Hoyas late, picking up the five-set victory on the second day of competition at the D.C. Volleyball Challenge at American's Bender Arena. Set scores were 25-23, 29-27, 19-25, 22-25, 15-12.

Three Patriots reached double-figure kills, led by 17 from junior Holly Goode on scorching .593 hitting. Seniors Laura Turner and Rebecca Walter each contributed 12 kills as well. Goode completed the double-double with 10 digs as well, while classmate Fernanda Bartels put up a double-double with 46 assists and 11 digs.

Vanessa Dorismond led the Hoyas with 21 kills while Ashley Malone had 51 assists and Tory Rezin led all players with five aces and 18 digs.

GU jumped out to an early 11-4 lead in the first set and held the advantage until a Goode kill tied the score at 15. The Hoya lead was pushed as large as three at 21-18, and at 23-21, Mason took control with a quartet of points to pick up the set.

Again, the Hoyas started strong in the second set, opening on an 8-2 run. A 9-3 run, though, by the Patriots knotted the score at 11. For the rest of the set, neither team led by more than two as the scoreboard was pushed into extra duty when, with Mason leading 24-23, a Dorismond kill forced a tie. The teams swapped points until, leading 28-27, a GU attack error gave Mason the two-set lead.

The third set saw the Hoyas prevent the sweep when, down 18-15, Georgetown scored on 10 of the next 11 points to win 25-19. GU accomplished a similar feat in the fourth, using a 4-0 run to take a 21-19 lead and holding off Mason down the stretch to send the match into a fifth and deciding set.

Each squad swapped the first five points until three in a row by the Patriots made it 8-5. Mason would not lose its lead, though GU advanced as close as 11-10 and on the third match point, Goode's kill on a feed from Bartels sealed the victory and a 2-0 start to the season for the Patriots.

The Patriots finish play in the weekend tournament later Saturday afternoon when they face George Washington at 5 p.m. at Bender Arena.