Box Score WHO: Women's Volleyball vs. Saint Louis
WHERE: RAC
FINAL SCORE: Saint Louis 3, Mason 0
KEY PLAYERS: Jelena Cobanovic – 15 digs; Morghan Martin – 10 kills
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1st
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2nd
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3rd
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TOTAL
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George Mason (6-13, 1-4 A-10)
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15
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16
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19
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0
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Saint Louis (17-5, 6-0 A-10)
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25
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25
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25
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3
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Fairfax, Va. – George Mason University's women's volleyball team demonstrated better performance, but it was still not enough to take a set from its undefeated Atlantic 10 Conference opponent Saint Louis when the Patriots faced the Billikens in the RAC on Saturday night.
MATCH NOTES
-Senior Jelena Cobanovic stood out in defense for the Patriots and finished with match-high 15 digs.
-Senior Morghan Martin returned to a double-digit performance with 10 kills after being held to single digits by Dayton on Friday night.
-Junior Danielle Rygelski and senior Megan Gilbert sparked in attack for the Billikens and finished with 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
-Saint Louis' sophomores Mackenzie Long and Nenye Okoro were the other two players who recorded double digits in digs in the match with 12 and 11, respectively.
-Saint Louis enjoyed a better start to the first set and doubled Mason's points at 10-5 with a kill by sophomore Lauren Leverenz.
-Mason came within four on one occasion after that but five unanswered points by Saint Louis later gave the Billikens an overwhelming 20-8 advantage that allowed them to comfortably close the set at 25-15.
-Similarly to the first set, Mason fell behind 7-4 early in the second set, but a 4-0 run by the Patriots which featured two serve aces by Martin gave them their first lead in the match at 8-7.
-The Billikens responded with a 5-1 run on their own and forced a timeout by Mason's coach Jackie Simpson at 12-9.
-An identical run by Saint Louis after the timeout gave them an eight-point lead at 18-10 and put them in pole position to win the set.
-Despite the comfortable advantage, the Billikens did not take their foot off the gas pedal and managed to increase their lead to nine at 23-14, which was the same margin by which they won the set at 25-16.
-Mason capitalized on a service error by Saint Louis senior Meredit Boe to grab their highest lead of the match at 4-2 in the third set, but the Billikens responded in style by going on a 5-0 run.
-Another kill by Martin brought the Patriots within one at 9-8, but the Patriots won only two of the next 12 points to find themselves trailing by seven at 18-11.
-Kills by redshirt senior Lola Owokoniran and junior Tiffany Clarke cut the lead to to five on separate occasions, but the Patriots could not make a further push to win the set, which ultimately went to Saint Louis with a score of 25-19.
STAT BREAKDOWN
-Mason registered 34 kills on a .188 hitting percentage in the match, while Saint Louis put away 38 attacks while hitting .333 throughout the contest.
-Saint Louis dominated the serve component, registering 11 serve aces in the match, while Mason had only two.
-Both teams had one solo block each coming through junior Taylor Paulson for the Billikens and senior Meredith Bush for the Patriots, but Saint Louis had more block assists, 14-4.
-Six other Mason players had at least four digs in the match to add to Cobanovic's impressive defensive performance and help the Patriots win the digging battle against the Billikens 56-41.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
“There was a little bit of a disjointed start, but as we started to get through with the flow, we were actually playing quite well. When we were in system with our passing, our offense was almost unstoppable.” – Mason head coach Jackie Simpson
NEXT ON THE COURT
Mason returns on the road next weekend for matches against Duquesne on Friday night and La Salle on Sunday afternoon.
