- Mason closes out season with 3-0 loss to Dayton.
- Bailey Williams records ninth double-double of 2017 with 11 kills and 11 digs.
- Williams' ninth double-double is the most in a season by a Patriots since Lana Zonjic in 2011.
FINAL: Dayton 3, Mason 0 (
PDF Box Score)
Bailey Williams – 11 kills;
Kelly Schaller – 34 assists (Match High);
Catie Espinoza – 19 digs (Match High).
FAIRFAX, Va. – Match number 27 of the 2017 season for George Mason Patriots had the Dayton Flyers as their opponent to close out the season. Despite
Bailey Williams' ninth double-double of the year, Dayton took the match in straight sets.
"I saw a ton of improvement from all of the players [throughout the season]," head coach
Aylene Ilkson said. "Moving forward we're losing two very solid middle blockers, which is something we'll be looking to replace, but the players that are left will be working really hard in the offseason. We're going to continue to practice and get better, so I'm definitely optimistic."
Jordan Glass finished the season by picking up a block in her 16th straight match, including a solo block Saturday afternoon. Glass also had five kills and a block assist for a total of 7.5 points.
With Williams picking up 11 kills, she finished the season with 3.15 kills per set. That marks the sixth highest season total a Patriot has posted in the 25-point set era.
Glass got the first Mason kill of the first frame, a set that saw eight ties to the 16-16 mark in the set.
Maddie French led the Patriots with four kills, including the one to tie the score at 16-16. However with the score tied 19-19, Dayton pulled away with a 6-1 run that gave the Flyers a 25-20 first set win.
The Patriots attack in the second set was led by Williams and Licie Leite, each of whom recorded five kills in the set. Even though the two outside hitters had identical hit percentages of .400, runs of 5-0, and 3-0 put Dayton in front 8-2 early. The Patriots cut the deficit to two at the 14-12 mark, but Dayton managed to never trail in the set and head to the intermission up 2-0 thanks to a 25-19 second set win.
In the third set the Patriots fell behind 6-2 early but chipped away at the deficit to eventually tie the set at 14-14, capped off by a Glass service ace. The Flyers answered with a 7-2 run that forced the Patriots to take their second timeout with the score 21-16. Following the timeout, Williams picked up two kills to give her 11 on the afternoon, but it wasn't enough as Mason dropped the third set 25-20, as well as the match 3-0.
Stay tuned to hear about updates regarding exhibition action in the spring, as well as other newsworthy events regarding George Mason women's volleyball.
NOTABLE STATS
- Licie Leite records a career high seven kills.
- Kelly Schaller tied her single-match career high in kills with three.
- Bailey Williams' compiling 11 points marked the fourth time in her last five matches the sophomore eclipsed double-digit points.
