Rutgers University
George Mason
Rutgers Volleyball Downs George Mason in Thriller, 3-2
Sep 10 | Women's Volleyball
Piscataway, N.J. (September 10, 2010) – In its first matchup of the Rutgers Invitational, the Rutgers volleyball team (5-3) downed the George Mason Patriots (4-4) in a five-set thriller, 3-2. Leading the way for the Scarlet Knights were captains Caitlin Saxton (Encinitas, Calif.) and Stephanie Zielinski (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) who each recorded double-doubles.
The first set saw the two teams play back and forth volleyball until Rutgers used a 6-0 run to build a five point lead a break the game open. The spree was highlighted by stellar serving from freshman Tiffany Regmund (College Station, Texas) who served three aces during the run. The Scarlet Knights closed out the set on a massive kill by junior Hannah Curtis (Wasilla, Alaska) which sent the College Ave Gym crowd into a frenzy.
In the second set, the teams continued the even play until George Mason used a 4-0 run to turn a close 19-17 score into a 23-17 advantage. From there, the Patriots cruised to a 25-21 victory to knot the match at 1-1.
Rutgers jumped out to a quick 9-5 lead at the start of the third set. From there, the Scarlet Knights kept up their impressive play and closed out a dominating 25-17 set victory on another kill by Curtis. The set was highlighted by RU hitting an impressive .464.
George Mason responded in the fourth, taking advantage of 12 RU errors, en route to a 25-15 set victory to knot the match again and force a deciding fifth set.
In the deciding set, RU jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead thanks to strong serving from senior Emma Chrystal (Kalamazoo, Mich.) and a strong offensive attack paced by Saxton and Curtis. GMU got as close as 13-10 but the Scarlet Knights closed out the match on anther thunderous kill from Curtis.
Rutgers returns to action tomorrow for its second and third matches of the Rutgers Invitational. The Scarlet Knights take on instate rival Princeton in a noon contest followed by a matchup with TCU at 4 p.m. to close out the Rutgers Invitational.
