Box Score WHO: Women's Volleyball at George Washington
WHERE: Washington, D.C.
FINAL SCORE: George Washington 3, Mason 1
KEY PLAYERS: Morghan Martin – 13 kills; Jordan Glass – 14 digs
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1st
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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TOTAL
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George Washington (11-5)
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25
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20
|
25
|
25
|
3
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|
George Mason (5-10)
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19
|
25
|
15
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21
|
1
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Washington, D.C. – George Mason University's women's volleyball team put in another good performance under new coach Jackie Simpson on the road, but ultimately fell to a strong George Washington side in four sets in its Atlantic 10 Conference opener.
MATCH NOTES
-Senior Morghan Martin led Mason with 13 kills on the night, followed by junior Tiffany Clarke with 11 kills on .391 hitting percentage.
-Freshman Jordan Glass put in a solid defensive effort in the Revolutionary Rivalry loss, leading the Patriots with 14 digs, two more than senior Jelena Cobanovic.
-Three Colonials registered double digits in kills – junior Chidima Osuchukwu with match-high 19 kills, senior Maggie Skjelbred with 12 and freshman Hanna Justesen with 11.
-Senior Maddy Doyle was another Colonial who registered a match-high performance with 21 digs, while Justesen had 11.
-The first set features seven tie scores and five lead changes – the most in either set of the match – which predominantly came in its first half.
-With the teams locked at 10-10, the Colonials went on a 5-2 run that gave them the highest lead of the set up to that point and Mason could not respond.
-The Patriots fought back within two at 20-18, but George Washington scored four unanswered points to gain a comfortable advantage and eventually close the set at 25-19.
-After falling behind 1-0 in the second set on a kill by Osuchukwu, the Patriots went on a 7-3 run to grab their highest lead of the match up to that point.
-That was not enough to send the Colonials in panic and they responded with a run that allowed them to retake the lead at 10-9 with a kill by Justesen.
-Mason came even on three occasions after that but had to wait until an attack error by Loren Williams for 14-13 to retake the lead.
-Two 3-0 runs later in the set decided it in favor of the Patriots – the first starting when both teams were tied at 16 and the other coming in the closing stages, allowing Mason to open a five-point lead at 24-19.
-The Patriots capitalized on their second set-point opportunity and tied the match by winning the set 25-20.
-The beginning of the third set did not foreshadow for its dominant score line, because at one point both teams were all even at 8.
-The Colonials won 10 out of the next 11 points, however, to double their opponents' points at 18-9, a large enough cushion to allow them to close the set comfortably at 25-15 despite Mason coming within five at 19-14.
-George Washington carried their momentum into the fourth set and scored the opening four points, but the Patriots showed great spirit to tie the set at 9.
-Mason's revival continued on Glass' serving sequence and the Patriots won three additional points to take a 12-9 lead.
-The Colonials responded with another 4-0 run to regain the lead and return the set to a point-for-point flow.
-George Washington was the first team to go on another run, scoring six of eight points at one point of the set to grab a 22-18 lead.
-An attack error by Osuchukwu helped the Patriots half that lead at 23-21, but back-to-back kills by Aaliya Davidson gave the Colonials their first A-10 win for the season.
STAT BREAKDOWN
-The Patriots registered 45 kills on a night that they hit .250 as a team, which was in fact higher than George Washington's .232 hitting percentage despite the Colonials' 60 kills.
-George Washington had a slight advantage over Mason in digging, 51-46.
-Although both teams registered only one solo block each through Clarke and Osuchukwu, Mason demonstrated better team blocking and recorded twice as many block assists as the Colonials, 24-12.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
"Our team is getting stronger every point we play. It didn't translate to a win tonight, but it will. We are sustaining a higher level of play for longer periods of time. Change is hard, but we are changing." - Mason head coach Jackie Simpson
NEXT ON THE PITCH
-This was Mason's only contest of the week and the Patriots will have a week of practice until they travel to Davidson next Friday for another 7 p.m. match.
