FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason women's volleyball team returned home
Wednesday but was unable to come away with a victory, falling 3-0 to American.
Set scores were 25-23, 25-20, 25-13 as the Patriots dropped to 3-6 while the
Eagles improved their record to 5-6.
The match, which was postponed more than two weeks after
Hurricane Irene delayed its start, saw sophomore Lana Zonjic lead the Patriots
with nine kills, while senior Noelle Fanella added seven. Classmate Kelly
McCarter tallied a team-high 10 digs while another senior, Kelsey Bohman,
recorded four blocks. Juliana Crum led the way for AU with 12 digs and 11 kills
while Monika Smidova served four aces.
American out-hit the Patriots by a .261-to-.183 margin, but
the Patriots' best offense came in the opening set which featured three lead
changes and eight ties. After Mason scored the match's opening two points, an
8-1 run by the Eagles gave them the advantage. The Patriots responded to a 10-5
deficit with a 6-1 run of their own to knot the score at 11. Mason led twice
more, but four straight AU points erased the 16-15 Patriot advantage. Again the
Patriots tied the score at 20, but Mason could not overtake AU and on their
second set point opportunity, a Mason ball-handling error gave the visitors the
set.
Mason started strong out of the opening whistle in set two,
leading off with a 5-1 run. The Patriots held on to the lead until AU tied it
at 10, part of a 5-0 run which put them up 13-10. Mason cut it to one but with
the score 16-15, AU rattled off five straight and the Patriots got no closer
than three from there.
In the third set, the teams were even through the first six
points and leading 8-6, AU scored seven of the next eight points to make it
15-7. The deficit was pushed to double digits as part of an 8-2 run that the
Eagles used to close out the match, in a third set where Mason's attack faltered
to -.048 compared to a .562 clip for AU.
The Patriots are back in action on the road, traveling to
Marshall's Thunder Invitational this weekend where they face the host
Thundering Herd along with Central Michigan and East Carolina.
