FAIRFAX, Va. - Sophomore Lana Zonjic and senior Noelle Fanella reached
double-digit kills but the George Mason women's volleyball team fell in
straight sets to Northeastern on Friday evening in Colonial Athletic
Association action at the RAC. Mason dropped to 7-11 and 2-4 in CAA play, while
the Huskies improved to 4-2 in conference and 14-4 overall.
Zonjic tallied 11 kills while Fanella added 10 to pace the
Mason offense, which also saw senior Kelsey Bohman slam four blocks (two solo)
in the match. Junior Lauren Goodell had a match-high 32 assists while senior
Kelly McCarter led the team with 11 digs. Janelle Tucker's 12 kills paced the
Husky offense, which held a .261-to-.161 hitting advantage.
The first set featured 14 ties and seven lead changes, a
closely contested affair which saw neither squad lead by more than seven
points. Tight early on, the Patriots were up three at 11-8 before a 6-0
Northeastern run made it 14-11 in favor of the visitors. Mason came back to tie
the score at 16, and it stayed within two points from then on. The Patriots
scored two in a row to erase a 23-22 deficit and earn set point, but the
Huskies answered with three straight points to capture the set.
Mason jumped out to an early lead in set two, up 3-1. NU responded
with a 5-0 run, and the three point margin would prove to be the largest lead
for either team in the set. Another closely contested stanza, there were 13
ties but only three lead changes as the Patriots never lead following a 9-8
advantage. Mason pulled within a point at 23-22, but a Nicole Bishop kill
followed by a Tucker kill ended the set and sent NU to the locker room up two
sets to none.
The Patriots had an even better start out of the
intermission, scoring the first four points of the third set including three
aces by Fanella. However, the Huskies countered with a 9-1 run to give them
their largest lead of the match to that point at 9-5. The NU advantage
continued to grow, eventually reaching nine points as the Huskies closed out
the match on a 5-1 run.
The Patriots are back in action Saturday evening at home,
hosting Hofstra at 6 p.m. in the annual Dig Pink Match.
