Feb. 14, 2004

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, MA - The George Mason University men's volleyball team traveled to Springfield on Saturday and the Pride took advantage of playing on their home court, jumping out early on the Patriots and holding on down the stretch, defeating George Mason, 30-16, 30-28, 29-31, 30-25.

The Pride had 13 kills and only one error on 19 attacks in the first game while the Patriots had 11 kills and 10 errors for a .036 hitting percentage. Things improved in the second game as the Patriots had 17 kills and a .250 hitting percentage. Still, they came up short of tying the match at 1-1, and instead, fell into a 2-0 deficit.

Thing turned around in the second game when the Patriots again had 17 kills, but this time they had a .333 hitting percentage, compared to a .171 hitting percentage for Springfield. The third game, though, saw the Mason regress, amassing just 10 kills to the Pride's 16 kills.

Brandon Mueller had 25 kills and a .422 hitting percentage for the Pride (4-3, 2-1) and Robert Soris added 44 assists. Ricky Albano added one solo block and five block assists. George Mason was paced by Felix Campos' 24 kills, but he also had 13 errors. Dustin Crosby added 11 kills while Dave Egan had 42 assists. Graham Sheppard had eight kills and team-high seven digs. Matt Steinfurth, the Patriot's leading hitter, played just one game and had two kills and no errors on five attacks.

The Patriots (0-6, 0-1) play again on Sunday and Monday when they host Quincy. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.