March 23, 2007

Box Score

MUNCIE, Ind. - The George Mason men's volleyball team (6-7) played its first match since March 10, traveling to Muncie, Ind. for the Don Shondell/Active Ankle Challenge Tournament hosted by No. 15 Ball State (11-9). In their first match at the two-day tournament, the Patriots lost to the host Cardinals 3-1 (24-30, 23-30, 30-26, 24-30) on Friday evening at John E. Worthen Arena.

George Mason and Ball State previously met in the Patriots season opener on Jan. 19 at John Linn Memorial Gym, with Mason winning 3-1. However, in this meeting Mason was unable to pull off the win, falling behind early, dropping the first two games of the match before winning the third game. However, the Patriots were unable to build on the momentum of their game three victory, as Ball State won the fourth game to close out the match.

Redshirt freshman opposite hitter William Price led Mason with 23 kills, three aces and three solo blocks. Redshirt freshman setter Ryan Kwiatkowski had a team-high 40 assists, while both Mark Burik and Graham Sheppard recorded nine digs in the match.

For Ball State, Nick Meyer finished with a match-high 25 kills, while Jeff Schmitz led all players with 52 assists. The Cardinals had three players finish with double-digit dig totals, as Ian Peckler registered a match-high 11, and both Mark Rumschik and Eric Schulte had 10.

In the tournament's other match of the day, Pacific downed Quincy, 3-1. The two-day tournament featuring George Mason, Ball State, Quincy and Pacific continues tomorrow when George Mason plays Quincy in a 4:30 p.m. match. The final match of the tournament will feature Ball State and Pacific at 7:30 p.m.