W&M’s Four-Match Winning Streak Snapped with 3-2 Loss at George Mason

10/19/07 10:50PM

Fairfax, Va. - The William and Mary volleyball team had its four-match winning streak snapped with a 3-2 (30-26, 28-30, 28-30, 30-28, 15-8) loss at George Mason on Friday evening. W&M is now 6-2 in conference play and is tied with Delaware atop the Colonial Athletic Association standings.

Freshman Erin Skipper led the Tribe (11-10, 6-2) with a team-high 25 kills to go along with 14 digs. Junior Abbi Owens also registered a double-double with 15 put-aways and a team-best 21 digs. Freshman Ginny Bray finished with nine kills on .304 hitting (9-2-23), while sophomore Lauren Powell totaled eight kills on a .385 hitting percentage (8-3-13). Junior Kim Mount dished out 63 assists and provided 12 digs.

Much of the opening game was tightly contested, as the teams found themselves tied on 18 occasions. However, with the score knotted at 22-22, the Patriots (11-8, 4-3) utilized a 5-0 run to pull ahead. While the College narrowed the margin with three consecutive points, GMU held on and earned the first set. Powell played well for W&M in the initial frame, totaling seven kills on .364 hitting (7-3-11).

Although the Tribe fell behind 4-1 early in the second game, it rallied back with a 6-2 run to even the count. Soon thereafter, George Mason built a three-point lead, 15-12, but W&M answered with a 4-0 spurt, capped by a Mount kill, to take the lead. While neither team was able to go ahead by more than two points the rest of the way, the Tribe claimed the game by scoring the final two points on a GMU set error and a put-away by sophomore Lindsay Pflugner. The College hit .391 (20-2-46) as a team in the set, while Mount totaled 18 assists and seven digs. Skipper also came up big with seven kills on a .538 attack percentage (7-0-13).

Like the previous two games, the third set was incredibly close. With the score tied at 15-15 midway through, the Green and Gold charged ahead by scoring five of the next six points. Although the Tribe extended the lead to six points, 25-19, the Patriots rallied back and cut the margin to just one, 29-28, late in the frame. However, Owens came through with the game-winning kill to put the Tribe ahead two games to one.

W&M’s momentum continued into the fourth game, as the team jumped out to an early 6-1 advantage. However, George Mason fought back shortly thereafter with a 10-4 run to take a three-point lead. Once again, neither team was able to go ahead by more than a few points, but the Patriots held on for the 30-28 win to send the match to a fifth game.

With the score tied at 2-2 in the final set, Mason rattled off an 8-0 run. The Patriots led by at least six points the rest of the way en route to winning the game and the match.

The Tribe will return to action again when it plays at James Madison on Saturday at 7 p.m.

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