April 22, 2009

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. - Fifth-seeded George Mason advanced to the quarterfinal round of the EIVA Men's Volleyball Championship with a 3-1 win over eighth-seeded Harvard on Wednesday evening at the Field House. The Patriots will travel to Springfield, Mass. to take on fourth-seeded Springfield College on Saturday at 7 p.m. with a berth in the EIVA Semifinals at Penn State's Rec Hall on the line.

The Crimson made it clear that this one wouldn't be easy from the start, rallying from an eight-point deficit late in the first set. Mason matched its largest lead of the set when it took a 28-20 lead following a kill by junior Luke Maloney. Needing just a pair of points to close out the set, the Patriots had a tough time putting Harvard away. The Crimson took three straight points to make the score 28-23 before a Ben Nichols' kill gave Mason set point at 29-23.

However, Harvard refused to go quietly, reeling off six consecutive points to tie the score at 29. With the score tied, the Patriots regrouped, taking the final two points off a Nichols' kill and a ball-handling error by Harvard freshman Dan Schreff to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

George Mason stumbled in the second set, dropping a 33-31 decision in a back-and-forth affair that included 12 ties and four lead changes. The Patriots trailed 27-24 before mounting a comeback to tie the score at 27. After tying the score, Mason went on to hold two set points, but were unable to close it out. The Crimson earned the final two points off a kill by junior Soren Rosier and an attack error by Mason junior setter Ryan Kwiatkowski.

After dropping the second set, the Patriots rebounded with an impressive performance in the third. After losing the first point, Mason never trailed again during the entire set on its way to an 11-point victory (30-19) to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Patriots closed out the match with a 30-26 win in the fourth set.

Nichols led Mason with 17 kills, while Maloney led the team in points with 18, including 14 kills. Kwiatkowski recorded 50 assists in the win.

Harvard middle blocker Brady Weissbourd finished with a match-high 23 kills on 47 swings for a hitting percentage of .340. Weissbourd also recorded six blocks in the match. Setter Gil Weintraub tallied match-highs of 56 assists and eight blocks.

With the win, the Patriots improve to 13-15 overall. The Crimson close their 2009 season with an 11-8 overall record.

2009 EIVA CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
EIVA First Round
Wednesday, April 22
No. 6 Princeton def. No. 7 Rutgers-Newark, 3-0
No. 5 George Mason def. No. 8 Harvard, 3-1

EIVA Quarterfinals
Saturday, April 25
No. 6 Princeton at No. 3 Saint Francis, 7 p.m.
No. 5 George Mason at No. 4 Springfield, 7 p.m.

EIVA Semifinals (Hosted at Penn State's Rec Hall)
Thursday, April 30
Winner of 7/6/3 vs. No. 2 Juniata, 4:30 p.m.
Winner of 8/5/4 at No. 1 Penn State, 7:30 p.m.

EIVA Championship (Hosted at Penn State's Rec Hall)
Saturday, May 2
Winner of 7/6/3/2 vs. Winner of 8/5/4/1, 7 p.m.

EIVA Championship Seeding
1. Penn State
2. Juniata
3. Saint Francis
4. Springfield
5. George Mason
6. Princeton
7. Rutgers-Newark
8. Harvard