Oct. 30, 2010

Box Score

Newark, Del. - The second-place George Mason women's volleyball team took on first-place Delaware on Saturday night and the Patriots pushed the Blue Hens to the limit before finally falling in five sets, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22, 17-25, 15-11. It was the fourth-straight five-set match for the Patriots.

Mason (12-11, 7-4) won the opening set (21-5, 10-1), winning five of the final six points to go up early on the Blue Hens. The second set was not as competitive as Delaware, leading 9-7, went ahead 20-13 and was able to tie the match at 1-1.

The third set was back-and-forth. First Delaware led 4-1, then Mason rallied to tie the set, first at 5-5, then 7-7, then 10-10. Mason threatened to take the set as the Patriots went ahead 16-12 only to see Delaware storm back, tying the set at 19-19, then winning five of the final six points to go ahead 2-1 in the match. The fourth set was never in doubt as Mason went up 6-1, held a 13-7 edge, then powered through by winning seven of the last nine points to even the match.

The final set was tied at 5-5 but Delaware went up 10-7. The Patriots won back-to-back points to make it 10-9, but Delaware showed why its lost just once in conference play this year, getting three kills and forcing Mason into a bad attack as they took the final set to solidify their hold on first.

Danielle Cook had 14 kills and just two errors for Mason, hitting .500 in the match., Noelle Fanella added 19 kills while Fernanda Bartels had 42 assists and 23 digs. Greta Gibboney had 29 digs for Delaware while Jess Chason had 49 assists and 21 digs.

The Patriots, who have played three straight on the road will play another pair before returning home as they are at UNC Wilmington on Friday at 7 p.m., then at Georgia State on Sunday at 1 p.m.