Feb. 23, 2008

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The thirteenth-ranked George Mason men's volleyball team finished as the runners-up at the Volleyball Hall of Fame Morgan Classic Tournament, falling in the final match to No. 8 USC in five games (30-24, 23-30, 30-27, 20-30, 14-16). The Patriots advanced to the final of the tournament with a win over No. 12 IPFW last night at Blake Arena in Springfield, Mass.

George Mason won the first game by six points, 30-24. The Patriots took an early lead at 7-6 on a kill by junior opposite hitter Kyle Gramit and never let the Trojans back into the game. Down 1-0 in the match, USC stormed back in the second game, scoring the first four points on its way to evening the score at a game apiece with a 30-23 win. The Trojans never trailed.

In the third game, the Patriots pulled away from the Trojans midway through with a four-point outburst to turn a 16-16 tie into a 20-16 lead. USC would get no closer than two the rest of the way as George Mason took a 2-1 lead with a 30-27 victory.

The Patriots were unable to take advantage of their opportunity to close out the match in the fourth game as the Trojans scored six of the final seven points of the game to win convincingly 30-20 to force a deciding fifth game. The fifth game proved to be a back-and-forth affair as Mason stormed back from an 11-7 deficit to tie the game at 12. The two teams traded the next four points until USC closed out the game and the match with consecutive kills by Juan Figueroa, who finished with a match-high 33 on 52 swings.

Gramit paced the Patriot attack with 22 kills on .386 hitting. Junior outside hitter Hudson Bates tallied a double-double in the match with 14 kills and 10 digs.

George Mason, 8-5 overall in the 2008 season after tonight's loss, returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 27 with a 7 p.m. match against Rutgers-Newark at the Fieldhouse.