WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL at Hampton Inn Shelton Invitational
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 2-Saturday, Sept. 3
WHERE: William H. Pitt Center (Sacred Heart University)
OPPONENTS: Sacred Heart (1-2) – Friday, 6 p.m.; Dartmouth (0-0) – Saturday, 10 a.m.; Milwaukee (3-0) – Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
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FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University's women's volleyball team will hit the road for another busy weekend, during which the Patriots will face Sacred Heart, Dartmouth, and Milwaukee at the Hampton Inn Shelton Invitational.
Mason goes into the tournament, which will be hosted by Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Conn. after hosting the busier half of another two-day, round-robin tournament – the D.C. Volleyball Challenge – less than a week ago. Although the Patriots could not pull off a five-set upset against American on Saturday, Jackie Simpson-Kirr's team battled well and as a result of that sophomore libero Catie Espinoza earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Freshman outside hitter Mikala Wells started her intercollegiate career with a bang and currently leads the nation for aces in five-set matches with her six against the Eagles.
The Patriots will start their weekend in Friday's night cap against tournament host Sacred Heart. Then they will have an early start on Saturday as they will face a fresher Dartmouth team at 10 a.m. before later completing their Hampton Inn Shelton Invitational with a contest against Milwaukee.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE NET
Sacred Heart started its season convincingly by handling Delaware State in three sets in its Maryland Invite opener but dropped consecutive matches to Eastern Michigan and Maryland to return home with a 1-2 record.
Mason's second opponent this weekend, Dartmouth, has not started its 2016 campaign and come into it after finishing last season with an overall record of 12-11. The Big Green posted an impressive 9-5 record in the Ivy League but just missed out on the conference tournament.
Two of Dartmouth's top three scorers from 2015 – Emily Astarita (350 kills, 3.98 kills/set) and Kaira Lujan (186 kills, 2.21 kills/set) – return as seniors, while the team's defense will be led again Zoe Leonard, who picked up 284 digs (3.23 digs/set) in her freshman season, the most by any Big Green player.
Milwaukee also hosted a tournament on opening weekend and was the only team to go 3-0 in it after defeating Bradley, Akron, and Western Illinois in succession.
Sophomore outside hitter Caitlin Schultz had a big weekend and leads the Panthers with 41 kills and 3.73 kills per set. Senior libero Myanna Ruiz played in all 11 sets and picked up 48 digs to help Milwaukee's perfect start to the season and also contributed four of the Panthers' 10 service aces in the Pepsi Panther Invitational.
