ATLANTA – A strong defensive effort led the Georgia State volleyball team to a 3-0 win over Colonial Athletic Association rival George Mason Sunday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena.

With the win the Panthers improved to 4-16 overall and 2-6 in the CAA while the Patriots fell to 4-16 overall and 2-5 in the conference.

"I am very proud of our play today," said head coach Tami Audia. "Every girl did their assignment at their position. It was a collective effort and we understood what we needed to do to win. We were able to keep balls alive and counter attack with a lot of force. Our serving was great and we serve-received so we were in-system a lot."

Sophomore Andrea Book had a big day defensively as she led the Panthers with a match-high three solo blocks and five block assists. Freshman Eliza Zachary chipped in two solo blocks while junior Emily Averbeck, who was honored prior to the match for eclipsing 1,000 career digs, posted 11 digs on the day.

Freshman Dede Bohannon led the Panthers in scoring with 11 kills. Senior Jamiee Freeman and sophomore Sydney Hunsley were second in scoring for GSU with seven kills apiece.

Freshman setter Natalia Nieto went the distance for the Panthers by playing each rotation and setting up 27 assists.

The Panthers came out strong in the first set as they used a 9-0 run to take a 16-9 lead. GSU kept the offensive pressure going to take the first set 25-13.

In the second set, the Patriots gave up a crucial attack error on set point that tied the game at 24-all. Averbeck blasted a service ace to put GSU up by one and a GMU attack error gave the Panthers the second set 26-24.

Set three saw the Panthers ride a 5-0 run to win the game 25-13.

GSU will hit the road for two CAA matches. The Panthers face Hofstra Friday, October 26 at 7 p.m. and Northeastern Sunday, October 28 at 1 p.m. Live stats of both matches will be available at GeorgiaStateSports.com.