Jan. 28, 2006

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - The strong play of sophomore outside hitter Hudson Bates helped lead the Patriots to two victories on the final day of the inaugural Patriot Games Tournament at John Linn Memorial Gym. Mason has won seven straight matches to open the 2006 season.

The Patriots played in front of a loud and raucous crowd in the nightcap against the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, defeating the Tarzanes for the third time this season 30-24, 30-16, 30-22. Bates led the attack for the Patriots, recording an amazing .882 hitting percentage, good for second all-time in Mason history during the rally-scoring era (2001-present), trailing only Chris Barnes' .900 in a match against Juniata on March 2, 2001.

In their first match of the day, the Patriots beat EIVA Conference rival St. Francis (Pa.) three-games-to-zero (30-20, 32-30, 30-24) in a non-conference match. Mason will play the Red Flash in two matches later in the season that will count towards the conference standings. Bates had a stellar hitting percentage of .550 in the match, with only one error and 12 kills on 20 total attacks. Senior Matt Steinfurth paced the Patriots with 14 kills, while sophomore setter Billy Freesmeier recorded 30 assists.

Rutgers-Newark began the final day of action in the tournament with a three-games-to-two win over the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. The Scarlet Raiders took the final game 15-13 to win their first match of the season. Rutgers-Newark followed up that victory with a three-games-to-zero win over St. Francis (Pa.) later in the day.

George Mason returns to action Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. with a match against Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.