April 13, 2007
Box Score
FAIRFAX, Va. -
George Mason (10-9, 6-5 EIVA Tait Division) cruised to an easy 3-0 victory against the East Stroudsburg Warriors (10-12, 4-8 EIVA Tait Division) in EIVA Tait Division men's volleyball action at John Linn Memorial Gym on Friday evening. With a win tomorrow at Linn Gym against Princeton, the Patriots would clinch the third seed in the EIVA Championship Tournament and the right to host a quarterfinal match on Saturday, April 21.
A dominant effort in the first game set the tone for the match. Mason won by 20 points, 30-10, in a game that was never in doubt. The Patriots never trailed in the game, outhitting the Warriors by an amazing percentage of .619 to -.276.
The second game was much closer than the first before Mason went on a late run to put East Stroudsburg away. With the score tied at 21, the Patriots scored nine of the final 10 points of the game to win 30-22 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third game, the teams were tied at 25 when Mason scored the next three points on kills by Kyle Gramit and William Price sandwiched around an attack error by East Stroudsburg's Jeff Quinn. With Mason leading 28-25, the two sides alternated points until redshirt freshman middle blocker Erik Lanham closed out the match with an emphatic kill.
Gramit finished with 14 kills to lead the Patriots, while Price chipped in 12 to go along with three aces and six blocks. Redshirt freshman setter Ryan Kwiatkowski led all players with 39 assists, while redshirt junior outside hitter Mark Burik registered a match-high seven digs.
Junior Jon Daley was the only player to reach double digits in kills for the Warriors, finishing the match with 14. Setter Adam Holdredge led East Stroudsburg with 28 assists in the match.
George Mason wraps up its 2007 regular season on Saturday at 7 p.m. at John Linn Memorial Gym against Princeton (11-8, 6-5 EIVA Tait Division). In the teams' previous meeting on March 9 in Princeton, N.J., the Patriots won in four games as Gramit finished one dig shy of a double-double with 12 kills and nine digs.
Saturday's match will be Senior Night at Linn Gym. The Patriots' will honor three players - libero Graham Sheppard, middle blocker Kyle Swanson and setter Billy Freesmeier - in a ceremony prior to the start of the match.
Sheppard has been the team's starter at libero since moving into the starting lineup for the final 15 matches of his freshman season. Sheppard was a First-Team EIVA All-East selection last season and has led the Patriots in digs during three of his four seasons, including this year. He ranks first all-time in the school record books in career digs during the rally-scoring era with a total of 607 heading into Saturday's match.
Swanson moved into the starting lineup at middle blocker during his senior season and has performed at a high level all season long, ranking first on the team in hitting percentage (.338) and total blocks (79). He ranks sixth all-time at Mason during the rally-scoring era with 209 total blocks.
After spending the 2004 season as a redshirt, Freesmeier has finished second on the team in assists the past three seasons. This year, he ranks first on the team in assists per game and has set career highs in assists, kills, digs and blocks. In the Patriots' four-game win against East Stroudsburg on Jan. 31, he had one of the finest matches of his career, setting career highs with 51 assists, nine digs and four blocks. His 534 assists ranks fifth all-time in school history in the rally-scoring era.
Tickets to Senior Night 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.
