WHO: Women's Volleyball vs. Howard @ D.C. Volleyball Challenge
WHERE: Bender Arena, Washington, D.C.
FINAL SCORE: Howard 3, Mason 0
Catie Espinoza – 18 digs (career-high, match-high); Jordan Glass – 12 kills (career-high, match-high); Mikala Wells – 10 kills, .500 hitting; Kelly Schaller – 39 assists (career-high, match-high)

WASHINGTON – Although gradually improving over the course of its season-opening match against Howard, George Mason University's young women's volleyball team could not take a set from the Bison in the D.C. Volleyball Challenge on Friday.

MATCH NOTES

-Junior outside hitter Jordan Glass led every player on the court with a career-high 12 kills, while freshman outside hitter Mikala Wells had a very successful debut by recording 10 kills in only two sets and finished without a single hitting error. The Patriots' attack was run by setter Kelly Schaller, who began her junior campaign with a career-high 39 assists.

-Fantastic defense by sophomore Catie Espinoza, who picked up a career-high 18 digs as a libero, and the rest of Mason's back line, prevented any Howard players to reach double digits in attack. The Bison's leading attacker from last season, Khaila Donaldson, and Jessica Young were closest to achieving that feat and finished the match with nine kills apiece. Senior libero Morgan Marlbrough led the team with 17 digs.

-Both teams took the lead early in the first set, but neither could pull away until back-to-back points from Donaldson's serve made it 7-5 Howard. The Bison kept their foot on the gas and doubled that lead shortly after at 10-6 with a block by Whitney Fields and Tamia Dockery, which prompted Mason's head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr to use her first timeout. Senior attackers Jessie Greenslade and Tiffany Clarke led the team off the huddle with a kill each to cut the lead to 10-8. Greenslade brought the Patriots within one on the following play, but the following minutes belonged to Glass, who picked up kills on three consecutive plays to give Mason a short-lived 12-11 lead. With the teams locked at 15-15, Howard's head coach Shaun Kupferberg introduced Carlise Cardoza to the match as a serving substitution and the junior helped Howard to a 4-1 run that prompted a strong finish by the Bison, who took the set 25-18.

-Mason started the second set in the best possible way – with a service ace by Greenslade for 1-0 – and then doubled that lead at 4-2 with a kill by Clarke, but Howard then went on a 5-0 run, again largely due to Cardoza's serving. Glass finally ended that run with a kill and started a three-point run by the Patriots which also featured a block by Schaller and junior middle blocker Sydney Fanoga as well as another kill by Greenslade. The next major run to a great extent set the tone for the remainder of the set and unfortunately went Howard's way – the Bison scored six unanswered points to grab a 13-7 lead and force the Patriots into a timeout. Despite Mason's impressive back-line defensive efforts and Wells' six kills from nine swings with no errors, the Patriots did not manage to threaten Howard's lead for long enough to swing the momentum on their side of the court and thus dropped the second set 25-20.

-Visibly unaffected by the set score, Mason opened the scoring in the third set with a kill by freshman middle blocker Kelly Fagan and continued to play freely to go on a 4-0 run before the Bison could even get on the scoreboard in the set. Despite Howard becoming more aggressive in attack as the set progressed, the Patriots did well to preserve their lead as the teams approached double digits with Fagan grabbing another kill to make the score 11-8 Mason. Then, strong minutes for Young followed while Mason could not convert on several attacking chances, resulting in a 9-2 Bison run that triggered a major swing of momentum. A well-timed timeout called by Simpson-Kirr helped Mason shake off the shock and kills by Clarke and Glass got the Patriots back in the set at 17-16. That was the first of three times when Mason was within one of Howard – the last at 20-19 after a kill by Fanoga – but the 2015 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference demonstrated nerves of steel towards the end and went on a final 5-2 run that won them the match, 25-21.

 STAT BREAKDOWN

-Mason registered more kills (47) and more digs (58) than Howard (38 and 51, respectively), but the Patriots had more attack errors, which resulted in a lower team hitting percentage (.150) than the Bison's .278.

-Howard demonstrated better serving in the early-season contest and finished with four aces – two by Donaldson – while Mason had only one, courtesy of Greenslade. The Bison also had only two service errors, as opposed to the Patriots' four.

-Mason's three team blocks in the match were canceled by Howard's seven blocks.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

“Howard played a great match. They made very few errors and forced us to earn every point we won. We had moments of greatness and many 'first weekend' moments. I spoke to the team after the match and they are ready to focus their energy on American tomorrow afternoon.” – Mason's head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr

NEXT ON THE COURT

-The 2016 D.C. Volleyball Challenge moves to the RAC on Saturday, where Mason will take on American at 1:30 p.m. and Georgetown at 7 p.m. in front of its own fans.