April 19, 2003

Box Score

FAIRFAX, VA ... Senior Art Kulans (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) recorded his 1,000th career kill to lead the second-seeded George Mason University men's volleyball team over seventh-seeded Springfield College, 3-0 (30-21, 30-24, 30-21), in the quarterfinals of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) Tournament on Saturday evening in the John Linn Memorial Gym.

The Patriots swept the Pride -- ranked first in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Top 15 Poll - for the second time this season and advance to the semifinals of the EIVA Tournament to face third-seeded Rutgers-Newark on Thursday, April 24, at 5:30 p.m. The Scarlet Raiders defeated sixth-seeded Concordia, 3-0, on Saturday to advance to the semifinals. The Patriots have swept Rutgers-Newark in both matches this season. Top-seeded Penn State, who swept eighth-seeded Vassar on Saturday, will host the remaining rounds of the EIVA Tournament, and will square off versus the winner of the Juniata/Princeton match on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The EIVA championship match will be held on Saturday, April 26, at 6 p.m. and will be televised live on College Sports Television.

The Patriots outhit the Pride .371 to .093 and outblocked them 14.5 to 2.0. Senior James Claney (Northbrook, IL/Glenbrook North), ranked fourth nationally in blocking average, led the George Mason defense with a season-high 10 blocks -- including nine assisted blocks to tie his career-high. With the effort, Claney set a George Mason rally-scoring era record in single-season blocks with 136, surpassing the old record set by Chris Barnes in 2001 by four blocks.

In game one the Patriots took the 19-14 lead on a block by sophomore Dave Egan (Toronto, Canada/Senator O'Connor) and freshman Matt Steinfurth (Portsmouth, VA/Woodrow Wilson). The Pride closed their deficit to four points at 22-18 on a kill by senior Greg Lardo (Hamburg, NY), but George Mason scored five of the next six points to lead 27-19 on a block by Egan and Claney. The Patriots won game one, 30-21, on a Springfield attack error. Sophomore Brandon Mueller (Bartlett, IL) posted a game-high five kills, but the Pride struggled offensively, hitting just .094. Sophomore Felix Campos (Puerto Nuevo, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Antonio) recorded four kills on .800 hitting for George Mason.

Kulans posted the first point of game two -- the 1,000th kill of his career. Although Springfield grabbed the early 5-2 lead on a block by Mueller and sophomore Jacob Voorhies (Rochester, NY), the Patriots responded with a six-point run, including two blocks by Egan, Claney and junior Dustin Crosby (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville), to take the 8-5 advantage. George Mason increased their lead to five points, up 15-10, on a Steinfurth ace. Springfield closed the Patriot lead to three points, trailing 22-19, but couldn't get any closer. George Mason won game two, 30-24, on Crosby's fifth kill of the game.

The Patriots jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game three, and later used a five-point run capped off by a Kulans kill to take the 15-7 advantage. The Pride put together a four-point run, including two Lardo kills, to close their deficit to four at 17-13. George Mason proved too strong, powered by four more Claney blocks, and won game three 30-21 on a Springfield attack error.

The seniors Kulans and Claney led the Patriots in the win. Kulans finished with 13 kills on .545 hitting, and added six digs and two blocks. Claney recorded a match-high 10 blocks, five kills and four digs. Egan added 24 assists, five blocks and an ace, while Crosby posted 12 assists, five kills and five blocks. Campos added eight kills and junior Brad Kniewel (Ringwood, NJ/Lakeland Regional) finished with a match-high 12 digs.

Springfield was led by Mueller with 14 kills and five blocks and Lardo with 10 kills and six digs.