FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason women's volleyball team opened its
tournament in ideal fashion, earning a straight-sets victory over Navy before
topping UNC Greensboro, 3-1, on day one of the Patriot Invitational. The
Patriots improved to 2-2 on the year and will face High Point on Sunday
afternoon at 1 p.m. to close out the tournament.
Mason 3, Navy 0
Mason out-hit the Midshipmen by a .356-to-.101 margin, led
by 11 kills on .409 hitting by sophomore Lana Zonjic. Senior Noelle Fanella was
one kill shy of a double-double as she added 15 digs to nine kills, while
classmate Kelly McCarter led all players with 18 digs. Mason's dominating
performance at the net, a 10-1 blocking advantage, was paced by seven blocks
from senior Kelsey Bohman (one solo)
while sophomore Laura Spencer added five. Bohman had the hot hand of the
match, tallying nine kills with just one error on 13 attempts (.615).
Carolyn Ewert led the Midshipmen with a match-high 16 kills
while Holly Berger added 12 digs.
The Patriots grabbed control early on, never trailing in the
first set following a 4-3 deficit. Mason led by as many as nine points after an
8-2 run made it 19-10, and after Navy answered with a 7-1 run of their own to
pull within three, the Patriots closed the set with five of the final seven
points to take the early advantage. Bohman accounted for four of Mason's five
blocks in the set, one which it had a .226-to-.025 attack advantage.
Navy started strong in the second set and led for the first
half of the frame, including a 15-12 advantage that was eliminated by five
straight Patriot points. The Midshipmen tied the score twice, but could not
overtake Mason as the Patriots reached set point at 24-19. On their third attempt, a kill by Bohman gave
the Patriots the two-set lead. Mason hit .484 in the set with just two errors.
The third set was all Patriots from the outset, opening with
a 12-3 run and pushing the lead as large to double digits at 16-5. Navy cut it
to 18-10 but that would be the closest the Midshipmen could advance, as the
Patriots' hit .360 compared to a .032 mark for Navy to seal the victory.
Mason 3, UNC
Greensboro 1
The Patriots jumped out to a two-set lead and held off a
Spartans charge to finish the day undefeated. Four Mason players registered
double-digit kills, including a double-double performance of 14 kills and 16
digs by Zonjic. Sophomore Tori Price also notched a double-double with 47
assists, a match-high, and 14 digs. Fanella, Bohman and junior Danielle Cook
each contributed 13 kills to help the Mason offense. Ariel Newman had 20 kills
and 20 digs to pace the Spartans.
In set one, the teams tied the score nine times with two
being the largest margin until a 4-0 run by Mason made it 16-12. That advantage
would grow to six at 22-16, and after the Spartans cut it to three, the
Patriots scored back-to-back points to take the opening stanza.
Mason exploded in set two, opening on a 13-3 run and leading
by as many as 13 at 19-6. UNCG came storming back, answering with a 12-2 run of
its own to turn it into a 21-18 Patriot lead. Again, Mason held on, using a
block by Cook and Price to survive the Spartan charge.
The Spartans had the strong start in the third set, scoring
a 7-3 opening run and leading until an attack error tied the score at 12. The
teams essentially traded points from there on until the UNCG lead moved to
three points at 19-16. Mason came back to tie it at 22 and had a match point at
24-23, but the Spartans responded and converted on their second opportunity to
cut the deficit to one set.
UNCG again started strong, scoring the first four points in
the fourth set but the tempo matched the first, as Mason quickly evened the
score. The margin would not grow larger than two until the Patriots earned
three straight points, making it 22-19. UNCG's first chance to force a fifth
set came up 24-23, but Price slammed a kill and a block by Bohman and Spencer
set up match point. Bohman would deliver on a feed from Price, giving the
Patriots the win.
