WHO: Women's Volleyball vs. Duquesne
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
FINAL SCORE: Duquesne 3, Mason 2
KEY PLAYERS: Morghan Martin – 24 kills (career-high), Tiffany Clarke – 14 kills; Jelena Cobanovic – 18 digs, Catie Espinoza – 13 digs (career-high)

Fairfax, Va. – Playing their second five-set match in as many days, George Mason University's women's volleyball could not overcome Duquesne on Senior Night and finished its most successful season since 2009 with a loss.

MATCH NOTES

-Senior outside hitter Morghan Martin finished her intercollegiate career with a bang, registering career-high 24 kills; fellow senior middle blocker Meredith Bush also had the best offensive night of her season with 11 kills, while junior opposite hitter Tiffany Clarke had 14.

-Seniors orchestrated the Patriots defense as well with Martin adding to libero Jelena Cobanovic's team-high 18 digs while freshman outside hitter Catie Espinoza had career-high 13 digs.

-Freshman Maddie Bazelak led five Dukes in double digits offensively with 17 kills; Lacey Levers followed with 15, Molly Davet had 12 while Abbie Trzeciak and Nora Young both had 11.

-Junior libero Sammy Kline led everyone on the court with 21 digs in the contest as Davet helped the defensive effort with 15.

-Bush's first kill of the night allowed Mason to pull away by four early in the first set at 9-5.

-The Patriots denied Duquesne's first effort to retake the lead when the Dukes tied it at 10, but the visiting team went on a 5-0 run later to grab their highest lead early in the match at 15-12.

-While still down by three at 16-13 soon after, Mason went on a 7-2 run to rebuild a two-point lead going into the final stage of the opening set.

-A kill by Young and an error by the Patriots drew Duquesne level, but Mason three additional kills by Bush led Mason's final push, which led to the team closing the set on a 5-1 run.

-The second set was the most one-sided for either team and went Duquesne's way 25-21, prior to which Mason never led and trailed by as many as nine points on four occasions.

-The Patriots enjoyed an excellent start to the third set and a service ace by junior setter Caitlyn Hipsher got the team in double digits with a seven-point lead, 10-3.

-A 9-3 run by the Dukes after that point got them dangerously close at 13-12, but once again Mason averted the switch of momentum and retained its lead.

-The persistence of Duquesne's players eventually paid off, however, and they managed to tie the set at 21.

-The late turn of events turned the momentum over to the Dukes' court and they managed to snatch the set 26-24 even though a kill by Martin earlier had neutralized their first set point.

-Duquesne pulled up by four at the 13-9 mark in the fourth set, but Mason responded with a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the set thanks to two consecutive errors by the Dukes.

-Nothing separated both teams entering the mid-set point and that tendency continued going into the closing stage of the set, 20-20.

-A kill by Clarke started a late 3-0 run for the Patriots, who made a serious statement for winning the set, but that lead turned out to be barely enough with Duquesne coming within one twice before redshirt senior middle blocker Lola Owokoniran settled the set with a kill at 25-23 and made sure the RAC crowd would see one more set of her and the other three seniors on the team.

-Two kills by Bazelak helped the Dukes to a 5-2 start of the tie-breaking fifth set.

-Mason responded with consecutive points to get within one, but another 5-1 run by Duquesne seriously tilted the balance in their favor and they retained their five-point advantage to put an end to Mason's season at 15-10.

STAT BREAKDOWN

-Mason recorded 65 kills on the night with a hitting percentage of .264; Duquesne put four additional attacks away while hitting .311 throughout the contest.

-Martin recorded the only solo block of the match and helped the Patriots edge their opponents in the battle at the net, 4-2.