WHO: Women's Volleyball vs. Dartmouth @ Hampton Inn Shelton Invitational
WHERE: William H. Pitt Center, Fairfield, Conn.
FINAL SCORE: Dartmouth 3, Mason 0
KEY PLAYERS: Bailey Williams – 11 kills (career-high), .300 hitting, 7 digs, 1 service ace; Mikala Wells – 8 kills, 5 digs, 1 service ace; Catie Espinoza – 9 digs

WHO: Women's Volleyball vs. Milwaukee @ Hampton Inn Shelton Invitational
WHERE: William H. Pitt Center, Fairfield, Conn.
FINAL SCORE: Milwaukee 3, Mason 0
KEY PLAYERS: Mikala Wells – 10 kills; Catie Espinoza – 8 digs

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – George Mason University's women's volleyball team continued to show its immense potential, but could not materialize it into a win, dropping both of its Saturday matches of the Hampton Inn Shelton Invitational.

KEY NOTES OF THE DAY

-Freshman outside hitter Bailey Williams finished in double digits for the first time in her young career with 11 kills against Dartmouth and added seven digs, which was tied for second most by a Patriot after sophomore libero Catie Espinoza's nine digs. A few hours later against Milwaukee, Williams recorded her first solo block and added two service aces to finish the day with three.

-After a quiet match against the Big Green, freshman outside hitter Mikala Wells returned to double digits against the Panthers and led Mason once again with her 10 kills. Another freshman, Magee Bailey recorded her first intercollegiate start and repaid head coach Jackie Simpson-Kirr's trust with a kill and seven digs against the Panthers.

-With the exception of the second set, Mason looked fresh against Dartmouth in the morning despite featuring in the night cap on Friday. The Patriots earned a 23-20 lead in the opening set with a kill by junior middle blocker Sydney Fanoga, but the Big Green scored five consecutive points to open the scoring, 25-23. With the teams tied at 19 all in the third set, two kills and a block by Dartmouth's Kaira Lujan were at the heart of a late 4-0 run to which the Patriots found no response and gave the Big Green enough momentum to close out the match at 25-22.

-In the first set against Milwaukee, Mason entered mid-set with a two-point lead at 15-13 thanks to a block by freshman middle blocker Kelly Fagan and senior outside hitter Jessie Greenslade. The former also recorded a kill to give the Patriots a 17-16, but late-set play again proved to be Mason's kryptonite as they scored only two of the last 11 points of the set, from which the Panthers came out as 25-19 winners. A 5-0 run by Milwaukee in mid-second set gave the Panthers a 15-12 lead and the momentum to earn a 2-0 lead in the match by closing the second period at 25-17. Despite completing a five-set comeback against Sacred Heart, the Panthers showed little sign of fatigue led for the entirety of the third set to close out the match at 25-16 and 3-0.

 STAT BREAKDOWN

-Junior middle blocker Sydney Fanoga had two of Mason's seven aces in the first match of the day, while the Big Green had five as a team.

-Dartmouth outhit Mason and had more kills in the contest – 35-28 – but the Patriots dug five more balls, 36-31.

-Nothing separated Mason and Dartmouth in blocks, 5-5.

-Against Milwaukee, Mason had its best hitting percentage of the weekend, but it could not match the Panthers' massive .338 offensive success rate, although the Patriots had only four kills fewer, 36-32.

-The Panthers held Mason to under 30 digs for just the second time this season, barely outdigging the Patriots 31-29.

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