Box Score BOX SCORE

The High Point University volleyball team suffered a 3-0 (21-25, 22-25, 17-25) loss to George Mason in the final game of the Patriot Invitational Sunday in Fairfax, Va. Junior Courtney Johnk led the team with 12 kills and Michelle Chakirelis had nine in the match.

“George Mason is a very good team,” said head coach Jason Oliver. “They played steady volleyball and it was a good lesson for us. We played up and down all match and showed our inexperience, especially on the first touch. We will work on making those corrections this week in practice.”

Johnk had 12 kills to go along with three digs, two aces and a block. Lauren Bell put up 32 assists, seven digs and two blocks and Chakirelis hit .389 with nine kills.

The first set was tied at 19-19 when the Patriots went on a run to win the frame. Two straight HPU attack errors gave Mason a two-point lead and they used it to extend their lead over HPU to 24-19. Johnk and Kristin Heldt had kills to fight off two set points but George Mason's Lana Zonjic had her fifth kill of the set to win the frame 25-21.

The Patriots led the entire second set but HPU never let them extend their lead past three points. High Point even outhit Mason .375 to .370 in the 25-22 loss. Johnk had five kills in the set and Chakirelis, Chelsea Davis and Heldt had three each.

George Mason jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the third set, capitalizing on four HPU errors. The Panthers sided out on a Patriot attack error and Molly Barlow aced Mason on the next point to cut the lead to five. The Patriots controlled the rest of the match, rolling to a 25-17 win.

Heldt finished the match with eight kills and Davis had seven for the day. Breanna Holliday had 17 digs in the match and was named the tournament's best defensive player.

The Panthers play their home opener Friday at 5 p.m. against Davidson in the opening game of the High Point University Classic.