WHO: Women's Volleyball at Davidson
WHERE: Baker Sports Complex, Davidson, N.C.
FINAL SCORE: Davidson 3, Mason 2
KEY PLAYERS: Catie Espinoza – 46 digs (career-high) (match-high), 12 assists (career-high); Tiffany Clarke – 23 kills (career-high) (match-high), 4 blocks (team-high); Bailey Williams – 17 kills (career-high), 17 digs (career-high), 4 service aces (career-high) (match-high); Jessie Greenslade – 15 kills

DAVIDSON, N.C. – George Mason University's women's volleyball team registered a program-high 123 digs and six career performances by three different players for what was arguably the team's best Atlantic 10 Conference performance of the season, but Mason could not come out as a winner in Sunday's close-fought, five-set battle on the road at Davidson.

MATCH NOTES

-Three Mason players finished in double digits during the nearly three-hour long marathon of a match and demonstrated the Patriots' good balance between youth and experience – senior opposite hitter Tiffany Clarke led head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr's team with career-high 23 kills while freshman outside hitter Bailey Williams also had the best night of her young career with 17 kills. Clarke's classmate outside hitter Jessie Greenslade enjoyed her best performance of the year with 15 kills, falling just three kills short of a career-high achievement.

-After being held to single digits for just the third time this season less than 48 hours ago, sophomore libero Catie Espinoza returned stronger than ever for Mason defensively and picked up a phenomenal number of 46 digs – as many as Davidson's top two defenders combined and 21 more than her previous career-best. The Virginia Beach, Va. native had a night to remember as she also aided Mason's attacking efforts with a career-best 12 assists. Senior setter Caitlyn Hipsher was the Patriots' primary offensive conductor with 31 assists, followed by junior setter Kelly Schaller, who had 26 assists. The two setters joined Espinoza with double-digit digs with 12 and 21 digs, respectively, and were also joined in the achievement by junior outside hitter Jordan Glass, who contributed 14 digs, and Williams, whose 17 digs were a career-high as well as she picked up her second career double-double.

-Davidson's double-digit offensive trio was led by Emily Franklin's 17 kills. Sabrina Shepherd had 15 on a team-best .406 hitting performance, while Kelly Friers had 14 after being set a team-high 58 times. The setter Mikayla Derochie had 52 of the team's 60 assists in the match and led the Wildcats with 25 digs. Elise Edman (21 digs), Katharine Franz (11), and Josie Treadwell (10) also finished in double digits defensively.

-Mason was down by four early in the first set but a timeout by Simpson-Kirr sparked a 5-1 run by the Patriots which brought the team on level terms at 8 all with a kill by Williams. Four plays later Mason had its highest lead of two, which marked the first of the five lead changes in the remainder of the set. Later on the teams were again deadlocked at 19 all, but a ball handling error by Hipsher and a kill by Franklin put Davidson up by two at 21-19 and forced another Patriot timeout. Consecutive service aces by Derochie right out of the timeout increased the Wildcats' advantage to four at 23-19, but kills by Clarke, Williams, and an ace by Glass made it 23-22 and sent the pressure to the other side of the net. A block by Clarke and freshman middle blocker Katrina Santos for 24-23 canceled Davidson's first set point, but Franz, the player who picked up that set point earlier, made an even bigger play and won the set for the Wildcats with a kill for 25-23. 

-The Patriots took control of the second set from the very start and never gave up the lead. Their advantage was as large as six at 19-13 courtesy of a Williams kill, but they were given a scare when a 7-2 Davidson run right after that brought the Wildcats within one at 21-20. A kill by Greenslade gave the Patriots some breathing space and was followed by a block from Santos and Hipsher on Friers that made it 23-20 and allowed Mason to win the set 25-22 and go into the intermission on level terms.

-After the intermission, Mason was in a very bad situation when trailing 16-8 and with no timeouts left. That is when Schaller and Hipsher returned to their usual productivity and picked up their creativity by picking out different hitting targets to play a major role in a 9-2 run by the Patriots that nearly canceled out the poor start by cutting Davidson's lead to one, 18-17. A timeout by the Wildcats led to their winning of five of the next six points and a five-point lead at 23-18, but that was not enough for the home team because five clutch kills by Clarke helped the Patriots snatch the third set out of the Wildcats' grasp – 27-25 – and take the lead in the match.

-The fourth set was the most dramatic of all. The biggest run in it allowed the Patriots to grab the largest lead at 18-15, but an ace, a block, and a kill by Franklin helped that lead be annulled in the next five plays. From that point on, no team led by more than a point, a flow of game which brought the set into extra points. Eight set points – of which Mason had only one at 33-32 on a solo block by Greenslade – were canceled out before a kill by Treadwell broke Mason's defensive resistance and closed the set at 34-32.

-Santos and Clarke combined at the net to block Cockrell and put Mason in front at 1-0 in the decisive fifth set, but once Davidson took the lead at 2-1 – on a block by Cockrell and Shephard – the Wildcats took control of the set and were the first team to lead by two at 5-3. Consecutive kills by Williams leveled the score and started a few minutes of seesaw scoring, after which an attack error by Friers and a kill by Greenslade for 13-11 put Mason in pole position to earn its first A-10 victory of the season, but four-straight Davidson points – two off blocks – postponed that once again and won the set and match for the Wildcats at 15-13.

 STAT BREAKDOWN

-Mason hit above .200 for the seventh time this season (.207) and bested Davidson's .195 mark in that component. The Patriots offensive dominance was even larger in terms of kills, 82-64.

-The Patriots' program-best 123 digs left Davidson's incredible 95 digs in the shadows on Sunday afternoon.

-The Wildcats prevailed in the other statistically significant defensive component – blocking – by outblocking Mason 14.5-10.

-Williams had four aces and Derochie had three aces, both of which were half of their respective teams' aces in the match as the Patriots proved to be better from behind the service line, 8-6.  

POST-MATCH QUOTES

“This is the first match this season that our group truly fought together as a team. To come back from 16-8 and win a set was a major stride in the right direction. Davidson decreased their errors at the end, but every point was a battle today and I am proud of the championship behavior our group displayed.” – Mason's head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr

NEXT ON THE COURT

Mason has only one match next weekend, which will be the volleyball chapter of the Revolutionary Rivalry. First serve against the Colonials at 6 p.m. on Friday.