George Mason University’s women’s volleyball team returned home from a long three week road trip to a large home crowd of 484 people as they defeated their rival the James Madison Dukes.
The Patriots did not disappoint the home crowd as they swept the Dukes 3 sets to 0. The Patriots improved their margin of victory in each of the three sets.
The Patriots trailed the Dukes for much of the first set but eventually edged the Dukes 27-25. Junior outside hitter Noelle Fanella said that first set was crucial to the win and it gave the Patriots crucial momentum going into the second set, which she said the team dominated due to excellent blocking and observed that the back-row didn’t even have to do much.
It was another excellent match for freshman outside hitter Lana Zonjic who led the team again with 13.5 points. Zonjic and Fanella each had 10 kills in the match.
Zonjic also led with an impressive .500 shooting percentage. Senior setter Fernanda Bartels had a match high 29 blocks. Sophomore middle blocker Danielle Cook had nine blocks to lead both teams.
Senior middle blocker/opposite hitter Holly Goode had 13 digs to led both teams.
The Patriots played like a team that was glad to be home and Cook said that being home felt good and she felt the team hadn’t played the way they wanted to on the road but she also felt the team learned valuable lessons on the road.
The Patriots improved to 6-7 on the season and will again be on the road as they travel to Boston, Massachusetts to take another CAA foe in the Northeastern Huskies.
Comments