March 4, 2006

Box Score

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FAIRFAX, Va. - George Mason's 15th-ranked men's volleyball team returned home for the first time in more than a month and earned the team's first victory over an opponent ranked in the CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll this season with a three-games-to-zero victory against No. 12 Ball State. The Patriots were 0-3 against ranked opponents heading into Friday's match.

With the win, Mason improves to 14-3 on the season, while the loss drops the Cardinals to 13-3. The Patriots won the first game 30-20, the second game 30-25 and the third game 30-24.

Redshirt senior opposite hitter Shaun Powell (Toronto, Canada/Francis Libermann), junior outside hitter Mark Burik (Glendale, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) and redshirt senior setter Bryan Newcomb (Richmond, Va./Atlee/Pepperdine) all played pivotal roles in reversing the outcome in tonight's match against a ranked opponent. Powell had a match-high 20 kills and hit .424 on 33 swings to go along with four digs. Burik hit an impressive .632 in the match with 12 kills and zero errors in 19 attempts. Newcomb dished out a match-high 44 assists and had two aces and three digs.

Mason dominated nearly every single team statistical category in the match, out hitting the Cardinals .461 to .308, tallying 48 assists to the Cardinals 33, while also registering seven more digs and five more blocks than Ball State.

The Patriots play again tomorrow against New York University, the No. 3 team in the latest CSTV/AVCA Division III Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll, in an EIVA Tait Division match at 4 p.m. at John Linn Memorial Gym. The Violets are in last place in the EIVA Tait Division with an 0-7 record in conference play, while George Mason is in second place with a 4-1 conference record. Mason has already played NYU once this season, on Feb. 18 at Coles Sports Center in New York City, defeating the Violets three-games-to-one. The Patriots posted a hitting percentage of .510 in the match, which tied the sixth-best single-match mark in school history. Redshirt senior Shaun Powell, sophomore Hudson Bates and freshman Kyle Gramit all posted double-digit kill totals, with Powell leading the way with 18 in the match.