March 18, 2004

Box Score

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The George Mason men's volleyball team is on a roll and not even a top 10 team can stand in its way. On Thursday, the Patriots took apart ninth-ranked Ball State, repaying the Cardinals for a season-opening loss and announcing for everyone to hear that the 11-match season-opening losing streak is a thing of the past. The Patriots struggle for one brief stretch and dominated the rest of the night, downing Ball State, 30-22, 18-30, 30-18, 30-27.

"I think the turnaround (after a 0-11 start is due to the fact that) we never quit," George Mason head coach Fred Chao said. "The team continued to work extremely hard in the gym and its just beginning to payoff. We're starting to believe in ourselves."

It had been nearly a year since the Patriots (4-11) had defeated a nationally-ranked team. George Mason down No. 14 Ohio State on March 29, 2003. Against Ball State (14-5), the Patriots looked like a team familiar with knocking off ranked opponents. George Mason hit .478 in the first game, and after suffering through a -.094 hitting percentage in the second game, rebounded to hit .565 in the third and .346 in the fourth.

Dustin Crosby had 12 kills and two errors on 16 attacks, erasing the memory of a six kill, 12 error performance in the season-opener. Matt Steinfurth added 10 kills and no errors on 14 attacks along with six block assists while Dave Egan had 45 assists and five digs. Most importantly, the Patriots showed that they could win without riding on the back of outside hitter Felix Campos.

Campos entered the game averaging 5.36 kills per game, third-best in the nation among NCAA Division I and II players. He had 17 kills, an average of 4.25 per game, but committed 12 errors. He hit just .132. But Campos certainly contributed in other areas. He had a school-record tying eight aces on the night, at one point, serving three straight to seal the third game. He tied Andre Melo's mark which was originally set against Southampton on January 19, 2001. Campos also added four digs, one solo block and two block assists.

The Patriots started out fast, jumping out to a 14-6 lead in the first game. Ball State could get no closer than four the rest of the way. The second game saw Ball State turn the tables, jumping out to a 14-6 lead of its own. The Patriots could get no closer than five. The difference between the two games was almost solely George Mason's hitting percentage. In the opener, the Patriots had 15 kills and four errors on 23 attacks while in the second game, they had 10 kills and 13 errors on 32 attacks.

Things clicked once again for the Patriots in the third game. They had 16 kills and just three errors on 23 attacks and after jumping out to a 13-6 lead, found little resistance. The Patriots won nine of the final 13 points in the game to take a 2-1 lead. The fourth game was much tighter. Ball State stepped up its attack, but the Patriots, who had grabbed a 4-1 lead, never allowed the Cardinals to get even.

Ball State was paced by Jary Delgado's 18 kills and .517 hitting percentage. Scott Bushong had 11 kills and hit .500. Andrew Braley, who entered the match tied for 16th in the nation in hitting percentage with a .396 mark, had just four kills while committing four errors on 10 attacks. The Cardinals also committed 17 service errors in the match. It was the third loss in four matches for Ball State. The Cardinals next play at No. 11 Penn State on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Patriots play their next five games on the road over the next three weeks, beginning with Saturday at St. Francis. That Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match begins at 2 p.m.