Mason (2-4) vs. Brown (4-0)
WHEN: Friday, 12 p.m.
WHERE: The RAC; Fairfax, Va.
LIVE STATS: LINK
LIVE VIDEO: LINK
Mason (2-4) vs. Robert Morris (2-3)
WHEN: Friday 7 p.m.
WHERE: The RAC; Fairfax, Va.
LIVE STATS: LINK
LIVE VIDEO: LINK
Mason (2-4) vs. Radford (1-5)
WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.
WHERE: The RAC; Fairfax, Va.
LIVE STATS: LINK
LIVE VIDEO: LINK
FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason women's volleyball team is set to host a trio of teams at the RAC for the Mason Invite this coming Friday and Saturday. Brown, Robert Morris and Radford will make the trek to Fairfax for the two-day, six-match tournament.
The Patriots (2-4) will kick off the tournament with a noon match-up with the Brown Bears on Friday in the first meeting between the two teams since the 1984 season. The Patriots will then play the 7 p.m. night cap against Robert Morris in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Finally, Mason will wrap up their play with a 2 p.m. match on Saturday against Radford, who the Patriots beat last year, 3-1, in neutral site action at William & Mary.
Last weekend, the Patriots went 2-1 at the Seton Hall Classic with wins over NJIT and Saint Peter's, while falling to the host Pirates. The graduate student pair of
Nani Spaar and
Gracie Halley once again shined and were rewarded with All-Tournament honors. Spaar averaged 4.2 kills per set and registered double-digit kills in all three matches. Defensively, Halley averaged 5.0 digs per set and set a season-high of 28 against NJIT.
PATRIOT POINTS
- On the offense, Mason is led by the outside hitter pair of Nani Spaar and Ewelina Gacek. Spaar has tallied 82 kills and leads the Patriots with 4.07 points/set and Gacek is second in both categories with 59 kills and 2.95 points/set, respectively
- Defensively, Gracie Halley eclipsed the 100-dig mark last weekend and leads the Patriots with 4.29 digs/set
- Three players have tallied double-digit blocks this season, with freshman Chelsea Colter leading the way with 20 on four solos and 16 assists. Camille Larkin (18.0) and Gabriella Gelfound (12.0) are also in double-figures
- As a team, the Patriots are leading opponents in several major categories, including kills/set (12.88-10.75), assists/set (11.75-10.00), service aces (40-28) and reception percentage (.939-.910)
- Mason's sweep over Saint Peter's on Saturday was its' first since it swept Rhode Island on Oct. 28, 2022. It was also the team's first sweep not at home in almost exactly five years, when the Patriots swept Norfolk State at the Georgetown Tournament on Sept. 1, 2018
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Brown is off to almost a perfect start this season at 4-0 and has dropped just one set to Atlantic 10 member Rhode Island last weekend. The last time out, the Bears swept Stonehill at home and had their best offensive match in the young season. Brown hit .439 with a season-low 10 errors. The defense has also been a bright spot, limiting opponents to a hitting percentage of .087 while out-blocking the opposition in every match.
Offensively, the Bears have been balanced, with four players tallying 30 or more kills through the first four matches. Beau Vanderlaan leads with 36 kills at an efficient .564 clip while also leading Brown with 17 blocks on three solo blocks and 14 block assists. Kayla Griebl (34), Jilienne Widener (33) and Hannah Flannery (31) have also eclipsed 30 digs. In the back row, Jessie Golden leads Brown with six service aces and 68 digs.
Robert Morris began the season at 2-3 and went 1-1 the last time out at the RMU Labor Day Classic. The Colonials downs Canisius 3-1 and fell to Atlantic 10 member Duquesne by the same score. As a team, RMU is edging opponents 13.4-13.2 in kills/set and has tallied 35 aces to opponents' 27.
Abby Ryan is leading Robert Morris on offense with 77 kills, 3.85 kills per set and 4.13 points per set. Natalie Stepanovich and Rosina Esposito are the other two Colonials to average over 2.50 kills per set. Stepanovich and Ashleigh Wallin lead RMU with nine service aces. Defensively, Emma Brown has tallied a team-high 11.0 blocks and Allena Carmody has notched a team-high 80 digs.
Radford sits at 1-5 on the season, picking up their lone win at the VCU Tournament last weekend against Iona in five sets. The Highlanders fell to Atlantic 10 member VCU 3-1 in the tournament finale. They also played Georgetown, falling 3-1 to Mason's common opponent. As a team, Radford is averaging 9.4 kills per set and 12.8 digs per set.
Two players have tallied over 40 kills so far as Olivia Flanagan (43) and Sierra Moore (41) also lead Radford in points per set. At the service line, Julia Slivka leads the team with nine service aces while also pacing the offense with a team-high 93 assists. On the defensive end, Summer Campbell and Taryn Roberts lead the Highlanders with 15.0 and 10.0 blocks, respectively. Libero Shelby Hernandez paces the defense with 76 digs on the season.
UP NEXT
The Patriots remain in Fairfax next weekend for their second straight tournament, the Patriot Invite. Middle Tennessee State, UAlbany and Seattle will all make the trek for games on Sept. 15 and 16.
