FAIRFAX, Va. (Sept. 10, 2021)-Playing in its first ESPN + broadcast of the season, the Lady Bears showed toughness and determination on Friday night to come-from-behind to defeat host George Mason in a five-set thriller, 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 16-14) in the finale of Day 1 of the George Mason Invitational at the Recreation Athletic Complex.
 
The victory was the first of the season for Morgan State (1-9), which improved to 2-1 all-time against George Mason. The Patriots (2-4) suffered their fourth straight loss.
 
Trailing the match 2-1, the Lady Bears overcame a five-point deficit in Set 4 to force a decisive fifth set and then managed to score five straight points in the final set to complete the comeback.
 
Madison Grace hit for .500 and tallied a season- and match-high 25 kills to lead the Lady Bears. Jadore Hayes recorded 17 digs, while Mackenzie Jefferson finished with a season-high 45 assists, a season-high five service aces and seven digs. Justyus Jackson had a match-high five blocks, including a solo.
 
George Mason was led by Peyton Ehmke's 18 kills, while Olyvia Kennedy added 16. Erin Derick recorded a match-high 56 assists, seven digs and a team-leading four blocks, including one solo. Katelyn Clarke tallied a double-double with a team-best 11 digs and 10 kills.
 
Morgan State hit .323 as a team and totaled 54 kills, 49 assists and 47 digs. The Lady Bears totaled a set-best 15 kills in Set 2 and hit for a high of .545 in Set 4. MSU held a 16.0-11.0 advantage in blocks.
 
George Mason finished with 65 kills and had an attack percentage of .301. The Patriots reached double digits in kills in four sets, including a set-best 15 kills twice in sets three and four. They would hit for a high of .393 in the fourth set. GMU also totaled 52 digs, 60 assists and had 10 service aces, while committing 12 service errors.  
 
How it happened
 
Set 1
George Mason jumped out to an 8-3 advantage, but the Lady Bears closed the gap to 11-10 on a kill by Makila Billingsley. However that would be as close as the guests would get. The Patriots scored the next four points to go up 15-10 and used a 10-3 spurt to take the opening set 25-15.
 
Set 2
It was a back-and-forth early on in the second set. After trading the first five points, Morgan State scored four straight to take a 6-3 lead. The hosts evened the score at 6-6 with three straight points and held a 9-8 lead, when Morgan State responded with two mini 4-0 runs to increase its cushion to 16-11. The guests lead would grow to 21-15 after back-to-back kills by Gabriela Hiciano and Grace. Mason would slowly chip away using an 8-3 spurt to pull within a point at 24-23. But Morgan State would come out of the timeout and close the door on a kill by Hiciano to give the guests the 25-23 win.
 
Set 3
Mason scored six straight points to take a 7-1 lead and force Morgan State to call timeout. The Lady Bears got two points back, but the Patriots ran off another five straight points in the midst of a 7-1 run to increase their lead to 14-4. Morgan State then responded with five consecutive points to trail, 14-9. The Patriots' lead grew to 21-12 and Morgan got within 22-16, but would get no closer. GMU would score three of the final four points for the 25-17 victory.
 
Set 4
It was all George Mason early on, as the hosts went up 8-2 and held a 12-7 advantage. Morgan State settled in and ran off seven consecutive points on the serve of Jefferson, who recorded three service aces during the run, to give the guests a 14-12 lead. The Lady Bears would go up by as much as five points (22-17) after an ace by Jackson. GMU got within 24-22, but a service error by the Patriots on the ensuing serve out of the timeout, gave Morgan a 25-22 victory and forced a fifth set.
 
Set 5
Playing in its first five-setter of the season, Morgan State trailed 7-4 going into a timeout. The Lady Bears came out and scored the next four points to take an 8-7 lead. Down 14-11, the Lady Bears again showed no quit, this time scoring five straight points, capped off by a kill from Jackson to take the set 16-14 and earn their first win of the season.
   
Morgan State closes out the George Mason Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 11, when it faces Marist (3-5) at 1 p.m.