Box Score
WHO: Women's Volleyball at George Washington
WHERE: Charles E. Smith Center, Washington, D.C.
FINAL SCORE: George Washington 3, Mason 2
WASHINGTON – Eight George Mason women's volleyball players finished the season with double-digit performances, but Mason dropped its season finale at George Washington despite leading by two sets at the intermission.
MATCH NOTES
-Freshman outside hitter
Bailey Williams even had a double-double for Mason with a team-high 12 kills and 12 digs. Senior outside hitter
Jessie Greenslade and her classmate opposite hitter
Tiffany Clarke also had 12 kills apiece while junior middle blocker
Sydney Fanoga had 11 kills and team-high five blocks. The Patriots' third senior
Caitlyn Hipsher picked up 27 assists in her farewell; her junior setting partner
Kelly Schaller also finished in double digits with 24 assist. The defensive efforts were once again led by sophomore libero
Catie Espinoza, who had 24 digs.
-A service ace by Hipsher, a kill by Clarke and several George Washington errors helped Mason pull away at 7-4 in the first set. The Colonials tied the score with three-straight points and then at 8 all, but that was the last time the teams were level. Mason showed good composure and made a successful attacking play every time GW was within a point and later orchestrated its own 3-0 run to force a George Washington timeout at 16-12. Greenslade contributed a kill soon after to increase the lead to five at 18-13, but then the Colonials responded with four-straight points to get right back in the set. Greenslade and Clarke picked up back-to-back kills to widen the gap between the two teams to three at 21-18, after which George Washington never challenged Mason's advantage despite calling an additional advantage and the Patriots closed the set at 25-21 with Clarke's fourth kill of the set.
-After an even start to the second set George Washington grabbed its first two-point lead at 7-5, but Mason's seniors then took over and contributed three kills and two assists for a 5-0 run that put head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr's team back in front at 10-7. The lead only kept growing – a block by junior outside hitter
Jordan Glass and freshman middle blocker
Katrina Santos made it five at 13-8 and a kill by Fanoga made it six for the first time at 17-11. At 19-13 Mason, the Colonials called their second timeout of the set, which sparked a 3-0 run by GW. This made Simpson-Kirr gather her team in a huddle and the Patriots won four of the next five points to go into the media timeout with a set point, 24-17. A kill by Kristel Moor and back-to-back blocks from George Washington canceled out Mason's first three opportunities to double their set lead, but that finally happened with a kill by Glass for 25-20 right off the Patriots' second timeout.
-In the third set, George Washington quickly made it clear that they will not go down easily on Senior Day. The Colonials entered double digits with a six-point advantage when Alexis Lete and Kelsey Clark stopped Williams at the net. Two Mason timeouts could not cease George Washington's momentum and the Colonials picked up the first double-digit lead in the contest at 17-7 and that lead grew to 12 later on. Mason managed to put in a mini run on Williams' final serving sequence of the set and cut the deficit down to single digits before Moor scored the last point of the set for 25-16 to put the Colonials on the board.
-Mason fought off an early two-point deficit in the fourth set to tie the score at 3-3, but George Washington continued to be aggressive in attack and that materialized into a 7-1 run that gave the Colonials another comfortable 10-4 lead. Mason worked hard just to prevent its opponent from picking up a larger lead, but a solo block by Fanoga on GW's senior Chidima Osuchukwu for 19-13 seemed to give the Patriots the momentum they needed for something more out of the set. A kill by Williams cut that deficit in half at 21-18 and a freshman block by Santos and outside hitter
Mikala Wells for 23-20 kept the pressure on George Washington high. Ultimately, however, the set was decided by Osuchukwu, who lived up to her reputation as one of the best blockers in the Atlantic 10 Conference and had a hand in the back-to-back GW blocks that sent the contest into a fifth set, 25-20.
-A kill and an ace by substitute Wells helped Mason out of trouble after George Washington had taken a 3-0 lead in the decisive set, but it was Fanoga who wiped the slate clean for the Patriots with a kill, 3-3. Mason's attack struggled in the minutes that followed and GW capitalized to take an 8-5 lead at the switch, after which successful plays by Moor and Clark got the Colonials within five point of the win, 10-6. It was then George Washington's turn to make mistakes and ultimately the match was to be decided in a game to five after setter Emily Clemens' ball handling error for 10-10. After Osuchukwu and Moor pushed the Colonials to a match point at 14-11, Glass had two kills in succession to keep Mason in the match. However, George Washington handled Greenslade's serve well and Jordan Young picked up the winning kill for 15-13 to materialize the Colonials' second two-set comeback against Mason in 2016.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
"We had great moments of play today. GW had more firepower but our team gave a great defensive effort. We are improving as a program every day, but still have a lot of work to do." – Mason's head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr
