BALTIMORE, Md. — George Mason defeated UMBC 3-2 on Friday. After dropping the first two sets, the Patriots won 25-16, 26-24 and 15-11, including a 4-0 response to close the fourth.

The Patriots answered a 7-4 deficit with six straight points in the first set, with Meredith Brown starting the response with a kill before Kiera Hamilton's serve kept UMBC under pressure through a 10-7 lead. UMBC later pulled even, and Nia Thompson's kill brought the Patriots back to 20-20. UMBC finished the set from there, taking it 25-21.

In the second set, the Patriots opened with kills from Jenna Hunt and Brown for a 2-0 start, but UMBC answered and later moved from an 8-8 tie to a 20-14 lead. The Patriots' clearest late response came at 20-14, when a UMBC bad set, a Caroline Rodriguez-Hunt block, and a Thompson kill made it 20-17. UMBC scored five of the final six points to take the set 25-18.

After falling behind 3-1, the Patriots moved in front behind Autumn Martinez-Robinson's four straight service points, including two aces, for a 6-3 lead. UMBC later tied the set at 11-11, but the Patriots answered with two block points around Ava Cheney's ace and a Thompson kill to go up 15-11. The Patriots finished the set 25-16, with Avery Booker adding consecutive late aces.

The Patriots erased UMBC's 24-22 advantage by taking the final four points to win the fourth set, 26-24. Martinez-Robinson served through the finish, which included a Hunt kill and three block-assisted UMBC attack errors involving Hamilton, Brown and Gabriella Gelfound. Earlier, Booker's serve helped the Patriots turn a 12-12 tie into a 16-12 lead, with Hamilton and Brown adding kills in that stretch.

After UMBC tied the fifth set at 10-10, the Patriots answered with Thompson's kill and moved to set point behind a Brown-Gelfound block and a Martinez-Robinson ace. Hamilton finished the set with a kill from Cheney, giving the Patriots a 15-11 fifth-set win.

PATRIOT POINTS
Meredith Brown
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- 10 kills on .533 hitting
- 7 total blocks
- 13.5 points

Kiera Hamilton
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- 15 kills
- 16 points
- 10 digs

Ava Cheney
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- 34 assists
- 2 service aces
- 4 total blocks

Autumn Martinez-Robinson
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- 4 service aces
- 14 digs
- 4 assists

Nia Thompson
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- 12 kills
- 10 digs
- 13 points

UP NEXT
The Patriots travel to Baltimore, Maryland, to face Morgan State on Saturday, Sept. 12, at noon.