Feb. 15, 2007

Box Score

HUNTINGDON, Pa. - In a back-and-forth affair in which neither team was able to hold momentum for more than a few moments, the George Mason men's volleyball team finally pulled away in the fifth and final game as the Patriots earned a 3-2 victory against EIVA Tait Division opponent Juniata College on Thursday afternoon in Huntingdon, Pa.

After Juniata earned a relatively smooth 30-25 win in game one, Mason won games two and three. Juniata responded with a strong performance in game four, but Mason won a tight game five to earn the win by scores of 25-30, 30-22, 30-26, 25-30 and 15-13. The loss dropped Juniata to 5-3 overall and 1-2 in the Tait Division, while the Patriots moved their record to 4-2 and 2-2 in the conference.

Juniata never led in the decisive fifth game as consecutive service aces from redshirt freshman opposite hitter William Price pushed Mason in front 7-5 and forced an Eagles timeout. Matt Fritz answered with a kill for Juniata and the teams then traded side outs with Juniata pulling within a point on six occasions, but the Eagles could not pull even and the Patriots sealed the match with a Kyle Swanson kill.

The squads finished with nearly identical stats for the match as each team had 67 kills, with Juniata hitting .248 as a team, and the Patriots hitting .237. Mason was outstanding defensively at the net, outblocking Juniata 11-5, and the Patriots also had eight service aces to Juniata's five.

Price connected on a match-high 26 kills with nine errors on 66 swings for a .258 hitting percentage. He also led all players with five aces in the contest. Sophomore Kyle Gramit and redshirt junior Mark Burik added 16 and 13 kills respectively for the Patriots. Redshirt freshman Ryan Kwiatkowski dished out 59 assists in the match, while also producing four blocks. Senior libero Graham Sheppard finished with 18 digs to lead all players, with Burik also chipping in 12 digs. Swanson led all players with seven blocks.

Fritz finished with 22 kills to lead Juniata, which finished with four players topping the 10-kill mark. Glenn DeHaven finished with 15 kills and 10 digs for a double-double. Derek Stanley finished with 11 kills while making his first start of the year while Dan Powers added 10 kills. Matt Werle dished out 56 assists and also paced Juniata with a pair of aces and 15 digs. Jeremy Barndt paced the Eagles with four blocks.

George Mason returns to action on Saturday, Feb 17 at 7 p.m. against No. 8 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.