March 10, 2008

FAIRFAX, Va. - Junior outside hitter Hudson Bates was rewarded for his stellar play in a pair of Patriot victories this weekend as the EIVA named Bates the Tait Division Player of the Week. On Friday, the George Mason men's volleyball team earned its first victory over a top-ranked team in the 34-year history of the program when the Patriots downed No. 1 Penn State 3-1.

Penn State entered Friday's match as the lone undefeated team in NCAA Division I men's volleyball with an 18-0 overall record and 9-0 mark in EIVA Tait Division matches. Heading into the match, the Nittany Lions had dropped only three games in their 18 victories and had not lost a single game since a four-game victory over Ball State on Jan. 18, a span of 39 games and 13 matches.

Bates played a major role in the Patriots' upset victory, finishing the match with 14 kills on 29 swings with four digs and seven total blocks. He followed up that performance with a match-high 15 kills, 16.5 points, four digs and three blocks in the Patriots' 3-0 win over East Stroudsburg on Saturday. Bates hit a sizzling .458 in the match.

For the week, Bates averaged 4.14 kills per game and 4.93 points per game on .358 hitting with 1.14 digs per game and 1.43 blocks per game. With two conference wins last week, George Mason jumped to second place in the Tait Division standings with a 12-6 overall record and 5-3 mark in conference matches.

Mason will have the week off before returning to the court on Thursday, March 20 to take on St. Francis (Pa.) at the Fieldhouse. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.