March 22, 2006

FAIRFAX, Va. - After traveling to the West Coast for its past three matches, No. 15 George Mason returns home to John Linn Memorial Gym on Thursday to face St. Francis (Pa.) in a critical EIVA Tait Division match.

Mason has played the Red Flash once already this season. The Patriots defeated St. Francis (Pa.) three-games-to-zero on Jan. 28 in Fairfax, Va. on the final day of the first-ever Patriot Games Tournament. The match did not count towards the conference standings; however, Thursday's match will, making this a critical match as Mason tries to hold on to second place in the EIVA Tait Division. The Red Flash are currently 5-2 in the conference, one match behind the 5-1 Patriots.

St. Francis (Pa.) is 10-7 overall and on a two-match winning streak. The Red Flash defeated Princeton three-games-to-two on March 10 and Mount Olive three-games-to-zero on March 18. The Patriots, currently 16-5 overall, have dropped their past two matches, losing a close three-games-to-two decision to California Baptist on March 16 and a three-games-to-zero final to No. 8 UCLA on March 18.

Two of the nation's leaders in blocks will participate in the match. George Mason senior middle blocker Matt Steinfurth currently leads all of Division I-II, averaging 1.90 blocks per game, while junior Marc Honore of St. Francis (Pa.) averages 1.57 blocks per game, which is fourth in the nation.