ST. LOUIS, Mo. — George Mason (13-10, 5-6 Atlantic 10) lost to Saint Louis (12-10, 7-4 Atlantic 10) 3-2 on Saturday. The Patriots won the second and third sets 28-26 and 25-20 before dropping the fourth and fifth 18-25 and 11-15.
The Patriots led 22-18 late in the first set, but Saint Louis tied it at 22-22 and scored the final three points after the Green & Gold went back ahead 23-22. Earlier, the Patriots turned a 5-4 deficit into an 11-6 lead by winning seven of eight rallies, with
Gabriella Gelfound and
Kiera Hamilton contributing kills during the stretch. Saint Louis closed out the set 25-23.
The Patriots recovered from a 26-25 deficit in the second set, scoring the final three points to take it 28-26. Earlier, the Green & Gold had built a 22-15 advantage before Saint Louis came back to tie it at 23-23 and later move in front.
Jenna Hunt tied the set at 26 with a kill from
Ava Cheney, Hamilton followed with another Cheney-assisted kill, and
Meredith Brown closed it with a kill.
The Green & Gold turned a 5-5 score into a 12-6 lead by winning seven of eight rallies, with Hamilton supplying three kills in that stretch and
Mia Hazelett adding a service ace. After Saint Louis closed to 23-20,
Nia Thompson put away consecutive kills to finish a 25-20 third-set win for the Patriots.
Saint Louis put the Patriots in an early hole by scoring the first six points of the fourth set, and the Green & Gold could not close the gap in a 25-18 set loss. The Patriots' best response came in short bursts, including an
Alexa Stutzman ace followed by a Brown kill and a later stretch with two Hamilton service aces around a Cheney kill. Thompson added three late kills as the Green & Gold reached 18 points before Saint Louis closed the set.
The Patriots started the fifth set with the first two points, but Saint Louis built a 9-5 advantage and kept the Green & Gold playing from behind. Hunt and Thompson recorded kills during the Patriots' response, and Hamilton followed with a kill before a Saint Louis attack error made it 14-11. Saint Louis closed the set on the next point for a 15-11 finish.
PATRIOT POINTS
Kiera Hamilton
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- team-high 20 points
- team-high 17 kills
- 14 digs
- 3 service aces
Ava Cheney
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- team-high 47 assists
- 6 digs
- 3 blocks
Jenna Hunt
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- 12 kills on .364 hitting
- team-high 4 blocks
- 14 points
Nia Thompson
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- 13 kills
- 12 digs
- 14.5 points
Autumn Martinez-Robinson
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- 14 digs
- 3 service aces
UP NEXT
The Patriots travel to Washington, D.C., to face George Washington on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m.
