WHO: Women's Volleyball at Sacred Heart @ Hampton Inn Shelton Invitational
WHERE: William H. Pitt Center, Fairfield, Conn.
FINAL SCORE: Sacred Heart 3, Mason 0
Catie Espinoza – 11 digs (match-high); Sydney Fanoga – 5 blocks assists (match-high), .333 hitting; Mikala Wells – 8 kills (team-high)

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – George Mason University's women's volleyball team put up a fight in their first match of the Hampton Inn Shelton Invitational, but could not take a set from host Sacred Heart on Friday evening.

MATCH NOTES

-Sophomore libero Catie Espinoza recorded a match-high 11 digs in her attempt to slow down the powerful Sacred Heart offense for her third double-digit performance of the season. Junior middle blocker Sydney Fanoga had a strong night at the net and was the catalyst of the only two solo blocks in the contest while adding three block assists for a match-high performance of five blocks. Mason's attack was again led by freshman outside hitter, who had eight kills.

-Mason's defense forced the Pioneers' leading attacker Sarah Krufka to a subpar performance with 10 kills. She was shadowed by Liisel Nelis (14 kills) and Makayla Dole (12 kills), both of whom hit a match-best .333.

-The Patriots jumped up to a 10-5 lead in the first set with Wells having three of Mason's four kills early on in addition to assisting Fanoga for a block in the run, right after the junior single-handedly stopped Allison Riggs' attacking attempt. Sacred Heart had a momentary response and orchestrated a 7-1 run to grab their second lead of the set on a kill by Dole. The lead did not last long, however, because a net violation by the Pioneers and a kill by freshman outside hitter Bailey Williams put Mason back in front, 13-12. What followed were minutes of even play which resulted in exchange of points until Sacred Heart pulled away by two at 18-16. A successful timeout by head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr allowed Mason to make it 18 all with Fanoga's second solo block and the Patriots continued to hang around until 21-20, but the Pioneers scored four consecutive points to win the set 25-20.

-After a few lead changes, the start of the second set was closely contested and that continued until mid-set, when a 3-0 run gave Sacred Heart the largest lead of the period at 18-14. A signature tip kill by senior opposite hitter Tiffany Clarke was followed by two SHU attack errors to spark an identical run by the Patriots that brought them within one. The Pioneers would twice again pull away by three but Mason did not give up and ultimately tied the score at 23 all with an ace by Espinoza, which forced a Pioneer timeout for the second time in the match. After the teams came out of the huddle, Sacred Heart's setter Kiki Robinson found Krufka and Nelis on consecutive plays and their kills helped the Pioneers take a two-set lead in the match by closing the set at 25-23.

-Mason was the beneficiary of an error-filled start to the third set and managed to pull away by five when senior outside hitter Jessie Greenslade made the score 10-5 with a kill. Similarly to the first set, Sacred Heart pushed to make a switch of momentum, but a tactical timeout by Mason at 12-11 prevented that by orchestrating a kill and a block by the Patriots in succession, 14-11. Nevertheless, Sacred Heart managed to earn its first lead of the set at 19-18 and although a kill by Wells tied the score right away, the Pioneers went on a 5-1 run to run a quadruple match point at 24-20. A kill by Clarke and a bad set by Robinson canceled the first two, a kill by Nelis completed the sweep for the home team at 25-22.

 STAT BREAKDOWN

-Although Sacred Heart (44 kills, .212 hitting) dominated the offensive stats, the Pioneers had only one dig more than the Patriots – 28-27 – and just two blocks more – 7-5.

-The home team also had six aces as opposed to Mason's two, but that came at a cost for the Pioneers, who had ten service errors more than their opponent – 13-3.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

“We had some highlight reel moments, but ultimately Sacred Heart played a cleaner match. We started off very strong but struggled to make in-game adjustments. I have no doubt that as this group continues to grow together, our competitiveness and execution levels will continue to rise.” – Mason's head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr

NEXT ON THE COURT

Mason will continue its participation in the round-robin tournament on Saturday, when it faces Dartmouth at 10 a.m. and Milwaukee at 3:30 p.m.