Jan. 29, 2005

Box Score

The 15th-ranked George Mason men's volleyball team took the court on Saturday afternoon for the first time since entering the nation's Top 15 and the Patriots didn't shrink away from the pressure of living up to their billing. Despite a second-game hiccup, the Patriots were able to dispatch of Springfield (Mass.) College with relative ease, taking a 32-30, 22-30, 30-22, 30-23 road win.

Mason (4-0, 1-0) was able to defeat its Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association rival behind another tremendous hitting night. After hitting better than .300 just six times in all of 2004, and winning just one road game last season, Mason has now hit better than .300 in all four of its matches while winning all three of its road games.

Once again Shaun Powell was the catalyst for Mason as he had 19 kills and hit .552 in the match. He also contributed with three block assists and two digs. Hudson Bates led all players with 21 kills and he added six digs, thee block assists and one solo block. The Patriots' middle hitters also continued their strong play as Kyle Swanson and R.J. Goubeaux combined for 13 kills and just three errors on 23 attacks. They also put together one solo block and nine block assists.

Dave Egan once again made the offense run with an ease that belies the effort as he tallied 57 assists to go with six digs and three block assists. Graham Sheppard had a game-high 11 digs.

Springfield (1-4, 0-1) was led by Niel Starzynski, who had 12 kills and hit .333. Brandon Mueller added 18 kills on a .273 hitting percentage while Jake Voorhies had one solo block and four block assists.

The Patriots return to action on Saturday when they host New York University at 2 p.m. at John Linn Memorial Gymnasium.