Box Score
WHO: Women's Volleyball at Fordham
WHERE: Rose Hill Gym, Bronx, N.Y.
FINAL SCORE: Mason 3, Fordham 2
KEY PLAYERS: Tiffany Clarke – 11 kills, 7 digs, 4 blocks; Jordan Glass – 8 kills, 14 digs, 2 blocks; Bailey Williams – 7 kills, 14 digs; Catie Espinoza – 19 digs; Katrina Santos – 6 kills, 5 blocks (match-high)

BRONX, N.Y. – George Mason University's women's volleyball team had two one-set leads erased in the Bronx on Friday afternoon but a phenomenal fifth-set run allowed the Patriots to prevail over Fordham and earn a third-straight victory for the first time in exactly 62 months.

MATCH NOTES

-The benchmark victory came after another balanced attacking display with eight of the 11 Patriots who played in the match picking up at least two kills. As a result, senior opposite hitter Tiffany Clarke was the sole Mason player in double digits with 11 kills. Junior outside hitter Jordan Glass and freshman outside hitter Bailey Williams followed Clarke with eight and seven kills, respectively. Glass and Williams had immense contributions on the defensive end as well by collecting 14 digs apiece to relieve sophomore libero Catie Espinoza, who needed only 19 digs to lead the Patriots. The three best blockers in the match were all on Mason's side of the net – freshman middle blocker Katrina Santos put in a match-best performance with five blocks and was followed by junior middle blocker Sydney Fanoga and Clarke, both of whom had four each.    

-Olivia Fairchild, who was one of Fordham's main attacking contributors for the win in Fairfax in September, had another great performance on Friday, picking up 23 kills on .319 hitting and three block assists on the defensive end. She was joined in double digits by Natalie Martinez, who had 10 kills and two block assists. Grace Muller was Fordham's best ground defender with 24 kills with three additional Rams – Molly Oshinsky (12), Maddy Walsh (11) and Kaitlin Morley – also finishing with at least 10 against Mason.

-Mason got off to a great start in the seventh all-time meeting with Fordham and did not allow for a single Ram lead for the entire opening set. Fairchild had a block assist and a kill, respectively, to tie the set at 1-1 and 2-2, but back-to-back Fordham errors created the first run in the contest, 4-2 Mason. A kill through the middle by Santos made the Patriots' lead three points at 8-5 and although Fordham came within one right away, a 6-2 run by Mason – topped off by another Santos kill – allowed head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr's team to pull away by five, 14-9. After that, Mason's cushion never dropped below four points; on the contrary, a kill by Glass made it six and forced a Fordham timeout at 20-14. A late 3-0 run by Mason that composed of two kills by Clarke and a block by freshman duo Santos and Williams grew the lead to eight, which was the final margin when Breanna Jones closed the set with a service error, 25-17.

-A kill by Clarke put an end to Fordham's 5-1 start to the second set and sent Glass to the service line, from where the junior caused five additional Mason points – including an ace – and put the Patriots into the lead, 7-5. With that, Mason took the momentum as well and went into double digits with a three-point lead at 10-7, which forced a Ram timeout. The lead grew to as many as four on a bad set error by Emily Fronk for 14-10 and even though the Rams improved their play and managed to tie the set at 15 all, Mason regained a two-point lead with an attack error by Fordham, 18-16. That is when the Rams went on a 5-0 run which proved vital in the outcome of the set. The Patriots did not go down without a fight and consecutive kills by Williams put them within one of Fordham at 22-21, but the Rams won the following three points to tie the match at a set apiece.

-In a much contested third set, Mason had the largest lead of two when they entered double digits at 10-8 on an error by Morley but it was quickly annulled with a kill by Fairchild and a block by her and Kristen Ostach. In mid-set, the teams were locked at 15, but it was Mason that again held the largest lead of the set at 18-16. As in a flashback from the previous set, Fordham went on a run to grab a late lead at 21-19. The Rams were within three points of taking the set when Mason's Caitlyn Hipsher committed a service error for 22-20, but the experienced setter quickly compensated for that with assists for kills by Clarke, Santos and freshman outside hitter Mikala Wells during the Patriots' strong 5-0 end to the set, 25-22.

-An attack error by Morley put Mason up 1-0 in the fourth, but that was the only lead that the Patriots would have for the remainder of the set. Morley paid her dues from service as she helped Fordham win six unanswered points and grab its highest lead of the match at 6-1. By the time the Rams entered double digits, the lead had a new high – six at 10-4 – and kept growing until it reached double digits at 19-9 on a kill by Fairchild. An ace by Fordham's highest scorer on the night gave the Rams their first set point at 24-12, but kills by Fanoga and Clarke as well as an attack error by Martinez made Fordham wait until its fourth attempt to bring the match into a fifth set, 25-15.

-Mason led 2-0 after the first two points in the fifth set due to Fordham errors, but a kill by Nicole Freeley and an ace by Morley tied the score right away, 2-2. Each team then went on a 3-0 run to force its opposing coach to burn a timeout before being tied again at 5 all. Several attacking miscues on Mason's part and back-to-back kills from Martinez put the Rams into double digits and forced Simpson-Kirr to use her last timeout at 10-7. Two additional errors dug an even deeper hole for Mason, which trailed by five while Fordham was three points from the victory – 12-7. It was a pair of juniors who turned it around for Mason at the end with Glass picking up the final three kills for her team and setter Kelly Schaller tormenting the Rams with her serve to cause five Fordham errors as the Patriots went on to win the final eight points and win the set 15-12.
The success extended Mason's win streak to three matches for the first time since Sept. 4, 2011, making it the program's best run in its A-10 history.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

"Fordham created a great match environment with more than 1,000 kids present for their School Day. I was proud of our team for overcoming the noise and for focusing in to fight for the win." – Mason's head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr

STAT BREAKDOWN

-It was a case of quality over quantity for Mason on Friday as the Patriots took 35 fewer swings than Fordham and had 13 fewer kills – 58-45 – but their .162 attack efficiency was higher than Fordham's .120 hitting performance.
-In a match that was completed with zero solo blocks, the Mason players linked up better at the net than Fordham's and outblocked the Rams 9-7.
-Glass and Hipsher, who had 21 assists, grabbed the Patriots' only two service aces while the heavy home court advantage helped Fordham to six aces.

NEXT ON THE COURT

Mason will take the momentum off its first true road victory of the season to Rhode Island, where they will face more Ram competition starting at 7 p.m.