March 11, 2005
Box Score
The George Mason men's volleyball team took care of business on Friday night as the 14th-ranked Patriots defeated New Jersey Institute of Technology, 30-27, 31-29, 30-13. The starting seven were on the court together for just one of the three games and most of the starter played just two games. The Patriots should be well rested when they face 15th-ranked Lewis University on Saturday evening at John Linn Memorial Gymnasium.
The Patriots got terrific production out of Shaun Powell in his one game of action. The junior All-American candidate had 9.5 points in his one game with 5 kills, three service aces, three block assists, three digs and an .833 hitting percentage. Matt Steinfurth played out of position in the opening game, but still managed to finish the match with a hitting percentage of .588, with a team-high 12 kills. Steinfurth entered the match fourth in the nation in hitting percentage. Hudson Bates added 12 kills and a .529 hitting percentage and Dave Egan had 31 assists in just two games. Billy Freesmeier had 17 assists in the opening game as Mason hit .470 in the match.
New Jersey Institute of Technology was led by Eduardo Welter's 15 kills and .522 hitting percentage. But Welter, who entered the match leading the nation with .824 service aces per game, failed to record one in the match. He did, however, have a match-high seven digs. Mike Nonnenmann added 31 assists and Greg Wagner had nine kills, but also committed nine errors. The Highlanders hit .260 in the match.
Saturday night will be the first time since April 7-8 of 1995 that the Patriots will host a nationally-ranked team while being nationally ranked. On April 7th, 12th-ranked Mason hosted 4th-ranked Penn State and on April 8th, the Patriots hosted 7th-ranked Ball State. Mason lost both those matches. Head coach Fred Chao was an assistant coach for that Mason team. The last time the Patriots defeated a ranked opponent at home while ranked was on Feb. 19, 1992 when 12th-ranked Mason defeated 19th-ranked Navy, 3-0.
Saturday's match against Lewis is set for 7 p.m. The Flyer will be playing for the third time in less than 24 hours. They defeated St. Francis (Pa.) on Friday night and play NJIT at Linn Memorial Gym at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
