April 7, 2006

Box Score

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FAIRFAX, Va. - No. 13 George Mason beat the Princeton Tigers in three games on Friday at John Linn Memorial Gym to improve to 20-5 on the season, and 9-1 in EIVA Tait Division play. The Tigers fall to 6-12 overall, and 4-8 in conference play with the loss.

In the first game, the Patriots held a 29-25 lead and were seemingly poised to close out the game. The Tigers had other thoughts, apparently, as they ran off three consecutive points to close the gap to 29-28. Princeton's Michael Vincent was serving for the tie, but hit his serve too long, giving the Patriots the point and the game, 30-28.

Mason took an early lead in the second game, but Princeton closed the gap to two at 26-24. Mason then reeled off the next four points to take the game. Redshirt sophomore Hudson Bates began and closed out the scoring spurt with kills. Sandwiched between the two Bates' kills were two double blocks, one by Bates and senior Matt Steinfurth, and the other involving the tandem of redshirt senior Shaun Powell and Steinfurth.

In the third game, the Patriots fell behind early and trailed throughout, taking their first lead of the game at 26-25 on another kill by Bates. The lead was short-lived; however, as the Tigers took the next three points on consecutive kills by Peter Eichler and Evan Pasion, and a double block by Pasion and Jack Pichard. Trailing 28-26, head coach Fred Chao called a timeout. After the break, the Patriots regrouped and scored the final four points of the game to take the match three-games-to-none.

Redshirt senior Shaun Powell paced the Patriots with 18 kills, while Bates finished with 14. Redshirt senior setter Bryan Newcomb tallied a match-high 46 assists. Vincent led the Tigers with 12 kills, while Brandon Denham dished out 37 assists. Mason posted a hitting percentage of .327 compared to .186 for Princeton in the match. The Patriots also outplayed the Tigers on the defensive end, tallying five more digs and finishing with 13 blocks, compared to six for Princeton.

George Mason's next match is scheduled for tomorrow at 4 p.m. at John Linn Memorial Gym against EIVA Tait Division rival Rutgers-Newark. The senior class of Newcomb, Steinfurth and Powell will be honored prior to the match against Rutgers-Newark. The trio ranks among the nation's best. Powell entered Friday's match against Princeton fourth in the nation in points per game (6.01) and kills per game (5.16), Steinfurth leads the nation in blocks per game (1.81) and Newcomb is 15th in the country in assists per game (12.32).