By Dennis Atwood — Daily Sports Correspondent

STRASBURG — The Strasburg Rams were even more efficient than in Saturday night's volleyball sweep of Luray, using less than 50 minutes to sweep the George Mason Mustangs Tuesday night, 25-11, 25-5, 25-18.

The highlight of the match was the Rams' amazing 18-point run to close out Game 2. Leading 7-5, Strasburg scored on three Mustang attack errors and a player violation; seven aces and a kill by junior setter Jaclyn Ayers; a kill each by sophomore Casey Spiker and seniors Shanna Devers and Bethany Doman; and three kills, including the gamewinner, by junior Jenna Smoot.

Ayers made 17 consecutive serves for points in the game, overcoming the problem of serving into the net the Rams have shown in previous games.

"They were actually regular serves. I didn't put anything extra on them," said Ayers. "I concentrated on each serve in and wasn't distracted by the total, and their attack errors, of course, contributed to the streak."

Strasburg (10-2, 2-0 Bull Run) had easy sailing in Game 1. Leading 9-7, the Rams ran off a string of six points on kills by Smoot and Ayers and two aces by senior defensive specialist Rebecca Coffman to go up 15-7.

The Mustangs (1-8, 0-3 Bull Run) had no kick and scored only on Strasburg attack errors and player violations for the remainder of the game. The Rams finished with a five-point run featuring a kill by sophomore setter Lauran Agnew, and two aces, including the gamewinner, by Doman.

Strasburg had an impressive total of 20 aces and 29 kills (11 by Smoot, and four each by Doman and Agnew) for the match. Their serving and offensive techniques continue to improve, with increasing use of soft-touch spot kills and power spikes.

"We knew coming in that George Mason doesn't have as strong a program as ours," said Rams coach Suzanne Mathias. "My goal was to make sure we served well and aggressively and to attack at every opportunity we could get. I encouraged the squad to continue to work on a variety of hitting strokes."

In spite of the Rams scoring tsunami, the Mustangs made a decent showing in Game 3. The Rams traded a kill and an ace by Doman, and kills by Agnew and Conde, with two kills by the Mustangs' freshman middle hitter Bria Platenburg and an ace by sophomore middle hitter Katie Breen to create a 4-4 tie.

The Rams then notched a five-point run featuring two kills and a block by Smoot and two more aces by Ayers before Mustang junior middle hitter Christina Perez scored a kill, followed by three Ram attack errors, closing the score to 9-8.

The Rams made three- and four-point runs, including two aces by junior defensive specialist Ally Kauffman to lead 16-9, before a net serve gave George Mason its 10th point, followed by a Ram attack error and an ace by sophomore setter Rachel Hassan to close the gap to four at 16-12.

Strasburg then mounted one of its typical runs of five points on kills by Kauffman, Conde, Doman, and sophomore hitter Siaura Saville, and an Agnew ace to build the spread to 21-12. The Rams then dropped the reins by giving four points to the Mustangs on two attack errors, a player violation, and an ace by sophomore middle hitter Katie Breen, who hit a Strasburg's player's foot on the sideline, resulting in a 21-16 Rams lead.

Strasburg recovered with a kill by Doman and block by Smoot. Two Strasburg attack errors made it 23-18. The match ended with a whimper as the Mustangs hit a net serve and committed a player violation, giving the Rams their winning points.

"Our defense was the key in the games where we played best," Mustangs coach Elizabeth Rizzi said. "I am always trying to instill in the girls making sure they're following the ball to the line. We have some strong blockers in Platenburg and Breen. Strasburg has a much bigger program than ours. We have no seniors on the squad and players come to us as eighth graders with no prior volleyball experience."