FAIRFAX, Va. – Despite a season-best five players registering double-figure kills, the George Mason women's volleyball team fell to Fordham in four sets on Friday night.
 
The Patriots were led across the court by sophomore Gabriella Gelfound, who tallied her second triple-double of the season on 21 assists, 15 digs and 10 kills. She also contributed four blocks, including a career-best three solos.
 
Graduate student Gracie Halley also had one of her best matches of the season, tallying 24 kills for the second-straight game. Today's total pushes her to 455 digs on the season, moving her into second in program history for single-season digs.
 
The Rams (17-10, 8-9) jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first set, but Mason never trailed by more than three through the middle of the stanza. A solo block from Gelfound brought the Patriots (8-21, 4-13) within one at 19-18, and back-to-back kills from Chelsea Colter and Olyvia Kennedy gave Mason the 21-20 lead and force a Fordham timeout. However, a short 3-0 run by the Rams put them back in front and they just edged out a 25-23 win.
 
16 ties and six lead changes highlighted the second set which required extra points from both sides. A 5-0 run by the Patriots put them ahead 9-6, led by a service ace and three assists from Grace Kristofic. The Rams slowly battled back, going on a 4-0 run to tie the set at 17-all. Fordham than registered blocks on three of the next four points to take a two-point lead of their own. The teams would then traded kill after kill, combining for 18 kills after Mason called a timeout down 20-18. A kill from Ewelina Gacek put Mason ahead 30-29, but the Rams forced the hosts into two errors en route to the 32-30 win.
 
Set three was another back-and-forth affair, featuring 14 ties as neither team led by more than two points until late in the set. With the score tied at 18-a-piece, Camille Larkin's fourth kill of the set kicked off a 4-0 run for the Patriots to give them the lead for good. A block from Gacek and Colter gave Mason set point and Caroline Rodriguez closed the door with her third kill of the frame for the 25-23 win.
 
It was all Fordham in the fourth, as it put together a stout defense that went 100% on siding out, never allowing more than one point at a time from Mason. The Patriots were unable to slow down the Rams' offense as they tallied 14 kills with no errors for a 25-10 win and the match.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Along with Gabriella Gelfound, Caroline Rodriguez (11), Camile Larkin (11), Olyvia Kennedy (10) and Ewelina Gacek (10) all tallied double-digit kills
• The Patriots tallied 22 kills in the second set, just the third time this season they have tallied 20+ in a set and the most this season
• Autumn Martinez-Robinson matched her career-best of 11 digs to go with a service ace
• The 72 digs by the Patriots arethe second-most this season
• Grace Krisofic led Mason with a game-high 28 assists to go with a team-best two aces

 
UP NEXT
The Patriots will play their final game of the regular season tomorrow at 3 p.m. vs. Fordham. Prior to the match, the team will honor its' senior class for Senior Day.