ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- George Mason recorded 15 team blocks and 12 aces and took advantage of 19 Navy service errors to defeat the Mids (2-3) in five sets, Saturday evening at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis. The Patriots (3-2) registered a 15-25, 25-18, 25-13, 23-25, 15-13 victory on day two of the Kristen Dickmann Invitational.
"Our team has always prided itself on staying in it, continue battling and fighting through adversity," said Navy head coach
Paco Labrador. "I'm proud of our fourth set and pushing to the end of the fifth set. George Mason did a great job of finding Kiera Hamilton to score (19 kills, 9 blocks) and we never had a solution."
Set One
Navy played a crisp, clean frame in winning the opening set. The Mids turned a slim 9-7 advantage into a 13-7 lead and eventually built a 20-11 cushion. Navy hit .500 in the set and held George Mason to a .000 hitting percentage.
Set Two
The score was tied at 4-4 when the Patriots took leads of 9-4 and 16-5. George Mason started to get its block timed correctly as it tallied six in the set.
Set Three
The third set was similar to the second in that George Mason held leads of 8-4 and 16-9 in taking a 2-1 lead. The Patriots hit .423 in the set and, with the aid of three more blocks, held Navy to a .043 mark.
Set Four
Navy was the team to take an 8-4 lead in the fourth set. The margin was down to 13-11 before it grew to 15-11 and then 18-13. The gap between the teams stayed at a minimum of four points until the Mids ran off three-straight points to take a 24-17 lead. A kill by the Patriots extended the set, then three-straight aces made the score 24-21. Another kill and then a Navy attack error drew George Mason to within 24-23. The Patriots committed a service error to send the match to a fifth set.
Set Five
George Mason took a 4-1 lead at the start of the abbreviated fifth set before clawed back and tied the score at 6-6. It would also be tied at 7-7 and 8-8, then three-straight points by the Patriots gave them an 11-8 lead. Back-to-back kills from Navy's
Emerson Lionberger made it an 11-10 score and resulted in a George Mason timeoout.
The teams traded the next five points to take George Mason to match point with a 14-12 lead.
Julia Humphrey kept Navy's hopes alive with a kill, but a kill by the Patriots ended the nearly two and one-half hour match.
Statistical Summary
Navy finished with more kills, 51-45, and didn't lose the hitting percentage statistic by too wide of a margin, .191-.183. At the service line, however. Navy had six aces and 19 errors while George Mason totaled 12 aces and an equal number of errors. Additionally, the Patriots held a 15-6 advantage in blocks.
Humphrey led the Navy offense with 10 kills, which was one more than the nine tallied by
Anuhea Hauanio-Lore. Defensively,
Ally Alessio had 14 digs,
Amara Chambers finished with nine digs and Humphrey and
Ellen Gundlach reach recorded three blocks.
"Julia and
Ava Toppin (7 kills, .312) both rebounded from a tough Friday match," said Labrador. "They carried our offense.
"We need to serve better. We didn't put enough pressure on Air Force Friday and we gave George Mason 19 free points. When you only need 25 to win a set, that's too many. When you lose a match by the narrow margin that we did tonight, seeing us make 19 serve errors is tough. It will be a big focus for us this week."
Up Next
Navy will close play at the Kristen Dickmann Invitational Sunday at 3 p.m. against Wake Forest.
