April 12, 2003

Box Score

FAIRFAX, VA ... April 12, 2003 ... Senior Carlos Guerra (Tamaulipus, Mexico/U.M.A.N.) recorded a match-high 14 kills and four blocks to lead No. 9 Penn State to their seventh straight win, downing George Mason, 3-0 (30-26, 30-19, 30-27), in the John Linn Memorial Gym on Saturday evening.

The Nittany Lions end the regular season with a 21-5 overall record and a perfect 14-0 mark in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division, while the Patriots fall to 14-9 overall and 11-3 in the EIVA. Penn State is the number one seed heading into next week's conference tournament, while George Mason is seeded second.

The Nittany Lions outhit the Patriots .356 to .154 and outblocked them 14.5 to 11.0 in the one hour and 18 minute match.

In game one Penn State used a five-point run to take the early 10-7 lead. George Mason scored three straight points, including on consecutive Lion attack errors, to claim the 14-13 advantage. The Patriots were up 23-20 on a Penn State service error, but the Lions put together another five-point run to go ahead 25-23 on junior Norm Keil's (St. James, NY/Smithtown) fourth kill of the game. Penn State won game one, 30-26, on a George Mason attack error. The Lions outhit the Patriots .333 to .300 in the game, but Mason outblocked them 3.5 to 2.5.

Penn State built a large lead early in game two, scoring four straight points to take the 14-7 advantage on a block by Guerra, freshman Dan O'Dell (Rochester, NY/McQuiad Jesuit) and junior Keith Kowal (Reading, PA/Wilson). The Lions led by as many as 14 points, leading 27-13 on a Kowal block solo. The Patriots managed a four-point run, including consecutive blocks by seniors Art Kulans (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) and James Claney (Northbrook, IL/Glenbrook North) to close their deficit to 10 at 27-17. But Mason was unable to get their offense together during the game, hitting a paltry -.071, while Penn State improved to hit .448. The Lions won game two 30-19 on a Keil kill.

George Mason took the early 12-9 lead in game three on a Kulans kill, but the Lions scored nine of the next 11 points to go up 18-14. A kill by sophomore Felix Campos (Puerto Nuevo, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Antonio) followed by a block by freshman Matt Steinfurth (Portsmouth, VA/Woodrow Wilson) and junior Dustin Crosby (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville) brought the Patriots within two at 18-16. But Mason was unable to get any closer as Penn State won game three, 30-27, on a kill by senior Zach Slenker (Dallastown, PA/Susquehannock). In the game the Patriots were outhit .280 to .267 and outblocked 4.5 to 4.0.

Campos led the Patriots in the loss with a team-high nine kills on .467 hitting with two blocks, including one solo. Kulans added seven kills -- just three shy of his 1,000th career kill - and four blocks. Claney finished with six kills and three blocks, and is just three short of the Mason rally-scoring era single-season record in blocks. Steinfurth posted six kills and a team-high six blocks, including two solo, while sophomore Dave Egan (Toronto, Canada/Senator O'Connor) contributed a team-high 26 assists.

Senior Zeljko Koljesar (Kitchener, Ontario/Forest Heights) recorded 10 kills on .563 hitting for Penn State, while O'Dell added a match-high 43 assists.

Prior to the match, the Patriots honored their three graduating seniors - Claney, Kulans and Peter Fabbro (West Seneca, NY/Orchard Park) - and remembered former head coach and Patriot All-American Uvaldo Acosta, who passed away on a team trip to Hawaii in 1998.

The second-seeded George Mason men's volleyball team returns to action next Saturday, April 19, as they host an EIVA Quarterfinal match versus seventh-seeded Springfield in the John Linn Memorial Gym at 7 p.m. The Patriots defeated Springfield, 3-0, in a match earlier this season. The winner will advance to the EIVA semifinals held at top-seeded Penn State on Thursday, April 24. The championship match will be played Saturday, April 26 at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on College Sports Television (CSTV). The winner of the EIVA Tournament advances to the NCAA Tournament, hosted by Long Beach State from May 1-3.