March 30, 2007

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's volleyball team returned home to John Linn Memorial Gym for the first time since March 4, defeating New York University in three straight games (31-29, 30-27, 30-20) to improve to 8-7 overall this season. NYU drops to 12-15 overall with the loss.

A close opening game featured 11 ties and five lead changes before George Mason finally prevailed 31-29. The Patriots led 26-24 when the Violets scored the next three points to take a 27-26 lead. Redshirt freshman opposite hitter William Price stopped the NYU run with a kill to tie the score at 27. The Violets regained the lead on a service error by redshirt freshman middle blocker Erik Lanham before Mason scored the next two points on successive kills by senior middle blocker Kyle Swanson and redshirt junior outside hitter Mark Burik. After Price's service error tied the score at 29, the Patriots closed out the match, scoring the final two points on a Price kill and an attack error by NYU's Jonathan Wintermeyer.

The second and third games weren't nearly as competitive as the first. In the second game, George Mason took an early 3-2 lead and never trailed the remainder of the game, while in the third game, the Patriots never trailed, winning by 10 points.

Both Price and sophomore outside hitter Kyle Gramit led George Mason's offensive attack, finishing with 17 and 16 kills, respectively. Redshirt freshman setter Ryan Kwiatkowski dished out a match-high 29 assists, Burik led the team with nine digs and Swanson had a team-high five blocks.

The Violets were led by sophomore Devin Zolnowski, who recorded a double-double in the match with 11 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore Ilan Goldstein had a team-high 28 assists and senior Brian Vilven led all players with six blocks.

Mason will host the Juniata Eagles tomorrow at 7 p.m. at John Linn Memorial Gym. The Eagles are 12-6 overall this season, and are in fifth place in the EIVA Tait Division, one spot below the Patriots in the standings. In their last match on March 28 against perennial powerhouse Penn State, the Eagles nearly pulled off the upset before falling to the Nittany Lions in five games. Juniata boasts the reigning AVCA/Sports Imports Division III National Player of the Week in junior Matt Fritz. In two matches last week, Fritz finished with 40 kills and a .380 hitting percentage, while averaging five kills and 5.69 points per game.

Tickets to tomorrow's match will cost $5 for adults and $2 for youth and senior citizens. All full-time enrolled students will be admitted free with a valid student ID.