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CAA Player of the Year and tournament Most Valuable Player Holly Goode led the Patriots (23-8) with 20 kills and six blocks. It’s Mason’s first title since 2003 and eighth overall. Junior Mariel Frey (Lititz, Pa.) sparked VCU (25-9) with 21 kills, 20 digs and four blocks. For her efforts, she was named to the CAA All-Tournament Team. Senior Ivana Rich (Cumberland, Va.) added 15 kills and nine blocks and was also named to the all-tournament squad. The top-seeded Rams looked poised to capture their first CAA title since 2005, and second overall, after taking a pair of hotly contested sets to open the match. However, when the two teams returned from intermission, third-seeded George Mason took control. VCU hit .259 and .327 in the first and second sets, respectively, but hit just .054 the rest of the match. “We came out ready to play and came back and found a way to win in the first two sets. I’m really proud of the effort,” said VCU Head Coach James Finley. “For whatever reason we went into the locker room and we came out and we were tight. We were careful and we weren’t doing the things we needed to get done. “ In the tiebreaker, Mason’s Noelle Fanella led the way with five kills and a .625 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, the Rams hit .111 and were haunted by four service errors. The Patriots stormed out to a 6-1 lead in the decisive set, but the Rams eventually trimmed the margin to 8-6. Fanella kept the VCU at bay with three kills down the stretch as George Mason held on for the 15-9 victory and the CAA title. The Rams also received 14 kills and 12 digs from freshman and CAA Rookie of the Year Michala Kvapilova (Liberec, Czech Republic), as well as seven kills and five blocks from junior Kelsie Clegg (Boise, Idaho). VCU will return to action on Friday, Nov. 27 when it hosts Pittsburgh at 3 p.m. in the VCU Thanksgiving Invitational at the Verizon Wireless Arena. |
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RICHMOND, Va. – George Mason rallied from a two-game deficit to defeat Virginia Commonwealth University, 3-2 (27-29, 25-27, 25-16, 25-23, 15-9), for the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association Championship Tuesday at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. All rights reserved.
