UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 11th-ranked George Mason men's volleyball team (19-7, 9-3 EIVA Tait) begins its quest for an EIVA title tomorrow when it faces the New Jersey Institute of Technology (13-13, 4-8 EIVA Tait) in the semifinal round of the EIVA Championship Tournament at 4:30 p.m. at Rec Hall in University Park, Pa. No. 1 Penn State (26-1, 11-1 EIVA Tait) will take on New York University (23-7, 8-2 EIVA Hay) in the day's other semifinal, slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.

The Patriots earned the second seed in the tournament, while the Nittany Lions took the top spot, and the right to host both the semifinal and final matches along with it. The top two seeds both receive a bye to the semifinal round of the tournament. NJIT and NYU entered the tournament as the sixth and eighth seeds, respectively. The Highlanders easily defeated the seventh seed, Springfield, by a final score of 3-0 in their first round match before erasing a two-game deficit against the third seed, Princeton, in the quarterfinals to take a five-game win. NYU upset Juniata, the fifth seed, and St. Francis (Pa.), the fourth seed, on its way to the semifinals. The Violets needed five games to beat Juniata but had a surprisingly easy time against St. Francis (Pa.), winning in three.

George Mason has won both matches against NJIT this season by identical scores of 3-0, and hold a commanding 36-8 advantage in the all-time series. The Patriots enter the semifinals on a roll, with wins in 10 of their last 11 matches to end the season. Included in that stretch are wins over EIVA semifinalists Penn State and NJIT. Mason's 3-1 win over Penn State on March 7 at the Fieldhouse was the team's first victory over a top-ranked team in the 34-year history of the program. The Patriots provided the lone blemish on the Nittany Lions' record during the entire 2008 season.

Mason was ranked in every single CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top-15 Poll during the entire season, reaching a high of No. 11, which the team is ranked in the latest poll. The Patriots won five matches against teams ranked in the Top-15 at the time of the match. Mason was rewarded for its success recently when the EIVA announced its year-end award winners. Six Patriot student-athletes were named to the EIVA All-East Team, tied with Penn State for the most players named to the team. Senior outside hitter Hudson Bates, senior middle blocker R.J. Goubeaux and junior opposite hitter Kyle Gramit were all named to the First Team, while senior outside hitter Mark Burik, sophomore setter Ryan Kwiatkowski and sophomore libero Luke Maloney were all named to the Second Team. In addition to the All-East honors, Head Coach Fred Chao was named the EIVA Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. With a win in the semifinals, Chao would earn the 150th win of his 10-year tenure at George Mason.

Both semifinal matches and the final, slated for Saturday, April 26 at 7 p.m., will be available on Gametracker on GoPSUSports.com, as well as GoMason.com, if the Patriots advance to the final match. Live video of the matches will also be available on GoPSUSports.com.

If Mason advances to the Championship Match on Saturday, bus transportation will be available through George Mason Athletics. The price is $15 per student and does not include your game ticket. The deadline to sign up for the bus is Friday, April 25 at noon.

The bus will depart from the George Mason Fieldhouse at approximately 1:30 p.m. and return at the conclusion of the match. Seating is limited. Reserve your spot on the bus at the Mason Athletic Ticket Office in the Fieldhouse or by calling (703) 993-3270. Payment is due upon signing up.

Mason students will have priority in signing up until Wednesday at noon. If space is still available, general Mason fans can sign up.