WHO: Women's Volleyball vs. Bryant @ Mason Invitational
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
FINAL SCORE: Bryant 3, Mason 1
KEY PLAYERS: Sydney Fanoga – 12 kills, .379 hitting (team-best), 3 blocks (team-high); Mikala Wells – 12 kills, 16 digs; Catie Espinoza – 17 digs (match-high), 4 assists

FAIRFAX, Va. – The home return of George Mason University's women's volleyball team drew an impressive crowd at the RAC Gym on Friday night, but the fans could not inspire the Patriots to a win over Bryant in the Mason Invitational.

MATCH NOTES

-Junior middle blocker Sydney Fanoga and freshman outside hitter Mikala Wells were the busiest two of Mason's attackers and totaled 67 attack attempts between them and finishing with 12 kills each. Sophomore libero Catie Espinoza was again above everyone on either side of the net defensively by compiling a match-high 17 digs, while Wells added 16 to pick up another double-double. Espinoza had to play the setter role in several awkward situations but pulled it off and contributed four assists, second-most by a Patriot after senior setter Caitlyn Hipsher, who had 34.

-Alexandra Lunsford was the only Bulldog who finished in double digits offensively with the minimum of 10 kills, but four additional Bryant players had at least seven kills, led by Sara DePouw with nine. The Bulldogs did well sharing the defensive duties as well and had three players who picked up double-digit digs: Erica Vendituoli (16), Kirstyn Sperry (15), and Vika Katzen (12). Although she finished the match with only one dig, Lunsford aided the defensive efforts at the net by finishing with a match-high five blocks.

-Bryant jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the opening set on Katzen and DePouw's serving sequences, respectively. That set the tempo for the rest of the set and Mason only managed to get within two for a short while at 6-8 on a Fanoga kill. Once head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr's team got into double digits at 10-14 courtesy of an error by DePouw, the Patriots never trailed by fewer than four and it was Katzen's serve again that did enough damage to help Bryant take the set, 25-16.  

-Successive kills from Fanoga and Wells eliminated Bryant's early second-set lead and tied the score at 4-4 shortly before an attack by Hipsher caught the Bulldogs' defense by surprise and gave Mason its first lead of the match, 6-5. A kill by Wells made the Patriots' advantage two on the following play and little by little Mason crept away to a four-point lead to force a Bryant timeout at 11-7. That timeout and the next, which came six points later, when the Patriots' lead was already six at 15-9, changed little in how the set was going and Mason won it comfortably 25-19 despite the Bulldogs cutting the advantage to four at 21-17 with a 4-0 run.

-Bryant was visibly frustrated and motivated at the start of the third set, which worked to the Bulldogs' favor because they won eight of 10 points early on to build a 13-6 lead. That, however, was not enough to put Mason away this time around, as the Patriots responded with a 7-1 run that was topped off with an emphatic solo block from freshman outside hitter Bailey Williams. Even though their lead was only one and momentum had shifted to the other side of the net in front of the euphoric fans, the Bulldogs managed to shake off the shock immediately and made in-game adjustments that helped them give up only two points for the remainder of the set while they scored the necessary 11 to get back into the lead of the match, 25-15.

-Another 7-1 run for Mason came much earlier in the fourth set and helped the Patriots to their best start to a set, 7-3, forcing a Bryant timeout. A kill by Wells put Mason into double digits with a five-point lead and although the Bulldogs made their push to close the gap, the Patriots kept their composure and retained a three-point lead until mid-set, 15-12. An attack error by Sperry for 18-15 allowed Mason to keep Bryant at bay, but not for long. It was precisely Sperry who stepped up to serve with the Patriots leading 18-16 and the sophomore setter redeemed herself in the best way possible as she helped the Bulldogs to eight-straight points that helped them get their first match point at 24-18. Hipsher's second kill of the match made the score 19-24 and finally ended her counterpart's service sequence, but even though Mason lived another point due to an attack error by Kiley Robbins, Katzen put an end to the contest at 25-20 in the fourth set and got Bryant off to the perfect start of the Mason Invitational.

 STAT BREAKDOWN

-Both teams had subpar attacking performances and at the end, only three kills separated them – 47-44 in favor of Bryant.

-The three big defensive performances for Bryant helped the Bulldogs outdig Espinoza, Wells and the rest of the Patriots, 69-62.

-Williams and Fanoga had the only solo blocks of the night, but that was only a consolation stat with Mason being outblocked by the narrowest margin on the night, 7-6.

NEXT ON THE COURT

-Another busy day expects both teams on Saturday. The Patriots will close out the Mason Invitational and their non-conference schedule with battles against Hampton at 2 p.m. and Loyola (Md.) at 7 p.m.