Back-to-Back CAA Champs
By Audrey Christopher

Trials. Tribulations. Adversity. The George Mason University women's volleyball team suffered through all these, yet, even though the team lost against Colorado State University in the first round of the NCAA championship tournament Friday, the team still feels they have had a winning season. "It's like you sacrifice yourself so much for the team that you forget about your pain. It goes beyond everything because you have a strong goal. And not always when you sacrifice yourself that much do you get rewarded, and fortunately we did," said senior outside hitter Aline Pereira.

Even though the returning CAA Champions were slated by area coaches as the favorite in the conference, their season was shaping up to a meager start. Pushing forward, the team kept their conference record high. At the start of November, the team held a CAA record of 8-3. They had yet to lose a home game, consistently winning in front of their fans.

The winning came with a heavy price tag. The players paid that price with injuries, which were numerous and often. In the first game in the Patriot Invitational, which Mason hosted on Aug. 29, sophomore libero Zulma Rojas came out injured. This injury required that sophomore outside hitter Shauna Ford play her position, while the sophomore went through extensive physical therapy to correct the injury. After the first injury, sophomore outside hitter Natalia Porosa left the playing field after her knee unexpectedly began to swell. Senior outside hitter Milena Racic encountered a knee injury playing against Maryland Sept. 17. Then, immediately after the game against the Terrapins, the team witnessed yet another misfortune when sophomore middle blocker Lindsay Angelo pushed her knee out playing a game against Towson.

Even though the team felt the weight of adversity, morale was boosted a bit Oct. 18. Pereira broke the Mason all-time kill record when she reached 2,139, sailing over the 2,108 kill record held by Andrea Smith. As the announcer proclaimed her accomplishment, the emotional senior held her hands high in the air and smiled. As she brought her hands to her face, the crowd gave her a standing ovation.

"I love challenges, and once I knew what those records were before, it seemed like they were directly asking me to enter the battle," Pereira said.

As the injured players slowly returned to the team, the Patriots saw the end of the season creeping near. The CAA tournament only allowed the top four teams in the conference to go to the championship. With Towson undefeated in the conference, the girls knew they would not be going into the tournament in first place. Mason sealed second place when they won their last regular season game against the University of Delaware. After all of the trials the team had faced during their regular season, they finally got into a comfortable spot going into the conference tournament. Then disaster struck: another injury. Rojas and Porosa, who had rejoined the team a few weeks earlier, fell to injury again. A week before the CAA tournament, Porosa's knee swelled again while the team was practicing. The trainers thought it best she not play in the weekend's game. Throughout the week, the knee was nursed. By the time the weekend rolled around, there was no swelling, no pain and no sign of injury. Porosa was back in the game.

The semifinal games were slated for Nov. 21. The Patriots took the court against James Madison University. They swept the Dukes 3-1, advancing to the championship game. In a match between Towson and Hofstra, the fourth-seeded Hofstra Pride upset the Towson Tigers, creating a huge opportunity for the Patriots. The team had already beat Hofstra twice during the regular season. The Patriots would do it again when it counted most.

The team faced the Hofstra Pride Nov. 22. They won the first set 30-27. Hofstra rallied back in the second set 25-30. The Patriots slaughtered the Pride 30-18 in the third set. During the match Porosa's knee began to swell once again. Pereira rolled her ankle lightly, causing pain, but decided to play on. With only one set left in the way of another CAA Championship win, Mason was determined. In the final moments of the fourth set, the Patriots thought they had lost. Pereira saw the ball coming. She went for a bump. The ball seemed to fly off, looking as if it had gone out of bounds. The team thought it was the end. Hofstra was already celebrating. The line judges had other ideas. The line judge called the point to Mason off a Hofstra block.

"Everyone thought we would lose, [but we] proved them wrong," Porosa said.

"All I thought was how much [we] all deserved it, and a couple years from now we will always remember this super human effort that all of us did to achieve something and prove everybody else wrong," Pereira said.

Assistant Athletic Director Ron Shakur said, "It might not have been pretty, but [the team] got it done."

Defying adversity, the returning CAA champions showed what it takes to be champions in repeating and retaining the CAA women's volleyball crown. For the second year in a row the team was off to the NCAA tournament to face Colorado State University, a team ranked 14th in the nation and undefeated in their season. The championship was held at the Comcast Center on the University of Maryland's campus, a place the team was disappointed to learn they would be traveling to at first, Porosa said. Porosa and the Patriots changed their mind about the venue when they realized that it was close enough for friends and family to come and watch.

Indeed, there were fans present. There was a section of the cheering crowd consisting of a Mason track and field athlete and two soccer players. They came decked out with green- and gold-painted chests and shouted cheers for their team.

The Colorado State Rams took the first two sets from Mason with scores of 30-22 and 30-24. Mason was not going to give up that easily. They fought against the Rams point for point in the third set, but unsuccessfully. The team lost against Colorado State in the third set 30-25.

The Patriots were given the respect they deserved when the crowd gave them a standing ovation for the monumental season they had just completed. Pereira, this championship game being her last as a Mason Patriot, looked toward the audience and beckoned for more applause for her team. Although there was defeat as the Patriots filed out of the gym, there was no disappointment.

Sophomore middle blocker Katie Gaudreault reflected on the team. "The team has a lot of heart," she said. "[We] showed we have a lot of character."

Coach Pat Kendrick added about the NCAA tournament game, "There were no surprises."

This season marks the end of an accomplished career as a Mason athlete for Aline Pereira. Kendrick said that the player has rewritten the books at Mason with all of her achievements.

Pereira said, "I'll always have tears in my eyes, looking back."