- Patriots fall to Billikens 3-0 despite 10 points from Sydney Fanoga.
- Catie Espinoza sets career high for service aces in a match with three.
- Jordan Glass finished tied on the blocking leaderboard with four (0-4-4).
FINAL:
Saint Louis 3, Mason 0 (
PDF Box Score)
Sydney Fanoga – 9 kills;
Emily Konchan – 19 assists;
Catie Espinoza 10 digs.
St. Louis, Mo. – The Patriots wrapped up their Midwest road trip against the Saint Louis Billikens on Sunday afternoon. Despite
Catie Espinoza picking up a career high three service aces, the Patriots fell to the Billikens in straight sets (25-19, 25-21, 25-18) inside The Pavillion.
"This afternoon we had great performances from Sydney, Catie and Emily [Konchan], but it wasn't enough against a strong Saint Louis team," head coach Aylene Ilkson said." I was pleased with our serving and passing today, and hopefully we can build off that and get the better of Saint Louis in a couple of weeks when we see them again."
The Patriots attack was led by
Sydney Fanoga who finished with nine kills on 16 attempts, good for a season high .438 hit percentage. Fanoga also recorded two blocks giving her 10 points on the afternoon.
Jordan Glass finished tied for the match lead in blocks with four, giving her over 50 total blocks on the season. Glass has now recorded a block in 11 straight matches.
A service ace from
Bailey Williams gave the Patriots their first lead in the match at 2-1 as Mason went toe-to-toe with the Billikens for most of the set. Down 14-11, the Patriots went on a 3-0 run capped off by two straight service aces by
Catie Espinoza to tie the set at 14. Despite the surge from Mason, the Billikens used six kills and a 11-5 run to take the set 25-19.
George Mason again stayed within striking distance for most of the set thanks to five kills from Fanoga and three from
Maddie French. It was in the second set that Espinoza picked up her third service ace of the match, setting a new single-match career high. The ace took place during a late 3-0 run that made the score 24-21, forcing a Billiken timeout. However, Saint Louis picked up the last point of the set the following play taking a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
Fanoga picked up right where left off on the other side of the break by picking up another three kills to increase her match total to nine. Glass compiled three of her four total kills in the final set and
Mikala Wells tallied two of her own. Despite those individual efforts, Saint Louis took the set 25-18 and won the match in the process.
The Patriots are home for next weekend's matches against La Salle and Duquesne. It will be the second time they've seen the two teams this season. Tickets to the matches can be purchased by clicking
here or calling (703) 993-3270.
NOTABLE STATS
- Jordan Glass has now recorded a block in 11 straight matches, continuing the longest stretch of her career. She also went over 50 TB on the season by recording four Sunday afternoon.
- Sydney Fanoga recorded 10 points. Sunday afternoon marked the fourth time this season she's posted double-digit points.
- Fanoga's .438 hit percentage is the fifth time this season a Patriot has eclipsed .400 in a single match (min. 10 TA).
