March 7, 2003

FAIRFAX, VA ... March 7, 2003 ... The George Mason University men's volleyball team has five players ranked in four statistical categories in the latest NCAA Division I-II statistics released Thursday evening.

Senior James Claney (Northbrook, IL/Glenbrook North) moved up two spots to rank second in the nation in blocking average with 1.67 blocks per game. He has led the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association in blocking average the past four weeks and has been ranked in the top-10 nationally for all three weeks that national statistics have been released. With 460 career blocks after Tuesday's 3-2 loss at No. 10 Penn State, Claney moved into second place in all-time George Mason history in career blocks.

Freshman Matt Steinfurth (Portsmouth, VA/Woodrow Wilson) and sophomore Dave Egan (Toronto, Ontario/Senator O'Connor) are also among the national leaders in blocking average. Steinfurth slipped from ninth to 15th this week with 1.19 blocks per game, while Egan jumped up two spots to tie for 17th with 1.18 blocks per game. In the conference, Steinfurth is tied for 10th in blocking average and Egan is tied for 12th.

Junior Brad Kniewel (Ringwood, NJ/Lakeland Regional) held onto sixth place in dig average for the third straight week with 2.50 digs per game. He is fourth in the conference.

Powering the Patriot offense, sophomore Shaun Powell (Toronto, Canada/Francis Libermann) showed up in two offensive categories. He moved up one place in points average to tie for 18th with 4.79 points per game, and made his season debut in national kill average with 3.85 per game to rank 20th. In the EIVA he is 15th in kill average.

The George Mason men's volleyball team (10-7, 8-1 EIVA Tait) returns to action on Tuesday, March 18, versus conference-foe Princeton at home in the John Linn Memorial Gym at 7 p.m.