FAIRFAX, Va. - Junior Lana Zonjic poured in a match-high 14 kills and the
George Mason women's volleyball team kicked off conference play with a 3-0
sweep of Georgia State on Friday evening at the RAC. Set scores were 25-23,
25-20, 28-26 as the Patriots (3-11, 1-0) won their Colonial Athletic
Association opener, while the Panthers fell to 2-11, 0-1 CAA.
Junior Tori Price led all players with 37 assists and also
had a match-high four aces, while freshman Bernetta Moore recorded 25 digs,
also a match high. Leading the GSU effort were Jamiee Freeman, Dede Bohannon
and Sydney Hunsley who each chipped in eight kills.
GSU looked to have the upper hand as the match began, taking
an early lead and going up by as many as five at 14-9. Mason answered with six
in a row, including a pair of aces by Zonjic to put Mason up 15-14. It would
stay within two points for the duration of the set. Georgia State led 23-22,
but a trio of hitting errors sent the first set to the Patriots, 25-23.
Mason kept the momentum into the second, opening with a 6-2
run and never trailing. GSU pulled within a point at 12-11, but a 6-1 run by
the Patriots moved the lead to six. The Panthers answered with a 6-2 run of
their own, and after each team scored twice more, Mason put away the set with
three in a row.
Out of the intermission, GSU captured the early third set
lead with an 8-2 run. Mason eventually battled back and took a 14-13 lead
behind a 5-0 run. Mason led by no more than two, and it was the Panthers who
had first chance at set point. Zonjic slammed a kill, though, to tie the score
at 24 and after Freeman's kill made it 25-24, a GSU ball handling error again
tied the score. Danielle Cook scored a kill but an error by the Patriots again
knotted the score at 26. This time, a Zonjic kill gave Mason their second match
point opportunity, which they converted on a block by Cook and Meredith Bush.
The Patriots return to the road for a three-match stretch,
beginning next Saturday night when they travel to rival James Madison. First
serve from Harrisonburg is set for 7 p.m.
