WASHINGTON, D.C. – The George Mason women's volleyball team dropped its Atlantic 10 opener to George Washington on Saturday night. The Patriots went the distance but fell to the Colonials in five sets. Mason moves to 4-9 overall and 0-1 in league play.
"Tonight was extremely disappointing," said head coach
Aylene Ilkson. "We battled hard in the beginning but George Washington played a great match. This is what Atlantic 10 play is like, grinding out every point, every night. We will bounce back against La Salle and Duquesne next weekend."
Sophomore
ShaLi Niu tallied a team-high 19 kills at a .224 clip. Sophomore
Siron Hardy added a career-high 18 kills while freshman
Stephanie Der posted a personal-best 28 digs.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- The Colonials overcame a 2-0 set deficit to claim the conference-opening match in five sets.
- A pair of Patriots notched double-doubles: Bailey Williams (11 kills/12 digs) and Erin Derick (43 assists/11 digs).
- Each team tabbed 15 blocks in the match. Sophomore Peyton Ehmke tied her season-high seven blocks.
- In the first set, Mason fought off a late 8-0 scoring run to claim the frame, 25-22.
- Three straight points by the Patriots tied up the second set, 22 all. Hardy tabbed back-to-back kills to give Mason the set, 26-24.
- GW scored seven straight points to take the third set, 25-20, and finished the fourth set on a 7-1 scoring run to claim the frame, 25-17.
- The Colonials posted 63 total kills compared to Mason's 54.
- GW was led by senior Skylar Iott, who tallied a match-high 33 kills on 81 total attempts.
UP NEXT
Mason continues its three-game road stretch with a pair of matches at La Salle (Oct. 4) and Duquesne (Oct. 6) next weekend.
