FAIRFAX, Va. – Junior middle blocker Sydney Fanoga and senior opposite hitter Tiffany Clarke represented George Mason University's women's volleyball team on the Mason Invitational All-Tournament Team, which completed the Patriots' non-conference schedule last weekend.
Mason fell to Bryant in its tournament opener on Friday night, but it bounced back in the best way possible by earning sweeps in both of its Saturday matches, dominating Hampton and Loyola (Md.), respectively.
This is the first time this season that more than one player on head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr's team receives similar recognition. It is also Fanoga's first recognition of such kind in 2016 while Clarke is present on the All-Tournament Team for the second week in a row after being named to the Penn Invitational All-Tournament Team just a week ago.
The Kapolei, Hawaii native featured in all 10 sets played by Mason over the weekend and contributed a total of 26 kills with a hitting mark of .434. Fanoga's hitting percentage only improved with every next match, leading to her best performance - .583 – against the Greyhounds on Saturday evening. Defensively, the middle blocker provided a total of 11 blocks and seven digs in the Mason Invitational.
Clarke's tournament did not start well as she was held to a negative hitting percentage by Bryant on Friday, but that did not affect Mason's senior and she came back with a 10-kill, .769-hitting performance in the sweep against the Pirates on Saturday afternoon. The opposite hitter then had only two kills against Loyola, but she contributed six of her 10 tournament blocks against the Greyhounds to ensure another straight-set victory for Mason. Clarke's ground defensive efforts produced four digs.
Five players joined Mason's duo on the Mason Invitational All-Tournament Team. Three of them were from Bryant, which went undefeated in the tournament and and lost only one set in the process - to Mason on Friday. The Bulldogs' most significant players were outside hitters Kiley Robbins and Kirstyn Sperry, who was pronounced tournament MVP, and middle blocker Ava Patterson.
Hampton and Loyola, which opened the tournament on Friday with a five-set thriller which went the Pirates' way for their first win of the season, each named one player to the All-Tournament Team. Hampton went with outside hitter Reeana Richardson while the Greyhounds gave that honor to Ann Ernst, also an outside hitter.
Mason Invitational All-Tournament Team
Tiffany Clarke, Sr., OPH – George Mason
Ann Ernst, Fr., OH – Loyola (Md.)
Sydney Fanoga, Jr., MB – George Mason
Ava Patterson, Fr., MB – Bryant
Reeana Richardson, So., OH – Hampton
Kiley Robbins, Jr., OH – Bryant
Kirstyn Sperry, So., S – Bryant (MVP)
