University of Delaware Athletics
Late Rally in Final Set Helps University of Delaware Volleyball Stun George Mason 3-2
10/13/2012 1:48:00 PM | Volleyball
The two-time defending CAA champion Blue Hens bounced back from a 3-0 loss at James Madison Friday night by downing George Mason by scores of 25-19, 27-29, 23-25, 25-17, 16-14 to improve to 9-12 (4-2 CAA). Upset-minded George Mason, which was looking to down the Hens for the first time since the 2009 CAA Tournament, dropped its second straight match to fall to 4-15 (2-4 CAA).
After falling behind 2-1 in sets, the Blue Hens came back to win the fourth set 25-17 before the dramatic fifth game victory. After tying the fifth set at 12-12, George Mason scored two straight points on a kill by Lana Zonjic and a set error by Delaware to reach match-point up 14-12.
But the Blue Hens were not going to be denied as Delaware reeled off four straight points to take the set 16-14 and win the match. An attack error by GMU's Laura Spencer followed by a solo block by Delaware's Chelsea Lawrence tied the score at 14-14 and the Hens captured the win on a service ace by Alissa Alker and an attack error by Meredith Bush.
Alker and Katie Hillman each reached career-highs for kills with Alker knocking down a game-high 23 and adding 16 digs and Hillman hitting .327 with 20 kills to go with nine digs. Katie Hank added 13 kills and three service aces while Lawrence also added 12 kills and four blocks, Ariel Shonk added 37 digs, Kori Riegel contributed 17 digs, and Mackenzie Olsen (at right) chipped in with 61 assists and 22 digs.
George Mason got 22 kills and 12 digs from Zonjic while Cook contributed 14 kills and six kills, Tori Price dished out 54 assists and added 21 digs and seven blocks, Bernetta Moore had 31 digs, and Spencer added six kills and 13 digs.
The Hens hit .268 for the match, including a sizzling 36 percent in the first set (17 kills with just four errors in 36 attempts) and .410 in the fourth set (19-3-39). George Mason hit
.205 and recorded 13 blocks for the match.
Delaware easily won the first set by a 25-19 score after breaking away from a 12-12 tie and needed just one point to win the second set before Mason broke set-point by scoring the final three points of the stanza. The second set featured 13 ties before Mason finally pulled out the win.
Mason broke a 23-23 tie by scoring the final three points of the third set to post a 25-23 win before Delaware came back in the fourth set to tie the match, winning 25-17 as the Hens led from start to finish. That set the stage for the pivotal fifth set that featured 10 ties before Delaware pulled out the victory.
Delaware will return home after the recent four-match road swing to host Villanova Wednesday night in a non-conference matchup at the Bob Carpenter Center at 7 p.m. The Hens will play six of their final seven matches at home as they make their final push for the CAA regular season title.
