Aug. 27, 2010

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The George Mason women's volleyball team opened its 2010 campaign at the D.C. Volleyball Challenge on Friday evening, with host American taking a 3-0 victory over the Patriots at Bender Arena. Set scores were 25-18, 25-22, and 25-23.

Junior Noelle Fanella led the Mason offense with 15 kills on .324 hitting, while classmate Katrina Boryc tied a match high with 13 digs. Senior Fernanda Bartels registered a double-double for the Patriots (0-1) with 26 assists and 11 digs. American (1-0), which out-hit the Patriots by a .279-to-.162 margin, was powered by 18 kills from Magdalena Tekiel.

A close, back-and-forth match from the outset, Mason jumped to a 14-11 lead with a 7-2 run but the Eagles countered with five straight points to gain the lead, 16-14. Mason cut the gap to one on a kill by senior Holly Goode and eventually tied the score at 18 on Fanella's kill, but the Eagles charged to the 25-point set victory.

It was the Patriots who had the strong start in set two, leading by as many as eight points at 20-12. Holding a 22-15 advantage, Mason succumbed to a 10-point streak of Eagle points giving AU a two-set lead.

In the third set, Mason again took control of the scoreboard, leading by three as late as 21-18. Five in a row from American gave the Eagles a 23-21 lead and the teams swapped points before Angelina Waterman's kill at 24-23 sealed the sweep for American, who hosted a school-record crowd of 2,055.

The D.C. Volleyball Challenge shifts to Fairfax on Saturday with four matches scheduled at the RAC. The Patriots will face Georgetown at 1 p.m. before closing out the tournament against George Washington at 7 p.m. The Colonials defeated the Hoyas, 3-1 in the early match on Friday evening.