It was the Max McFarland show on Friday night at the
RAC as the sophomore outside hitter had a career-match in leading the George
Mason men's volleyball team to a 3-1 win over No. 12 Ball State. The native of
Manhattan Beach, Calif. played libero last year for the Patriots and in the
offseason asked if he could have a shot at playing outside hitter. Despite
being just 5'11”, he was given that opportunity and against a nationally-ranked
opponent, he came through big time, with 26 kills and a .457 attack percentage.
Mason improved to 6-1 with the 21-25, 25-20, 34-32, 25-21 win. Ball State fell
to 2-3.
McFarland wasn't the only Patriot to have a big
night, as the Patriots remained unbeaten at home. He had nine digs to go with
his 26 kills, the most by a Patriot this year. Eric Lucas added 16 kills and 12
digs while Brandon Joyner had 56 assists and 11 digs. Ball State was led by
Anders Nelson's 12 kills and .500 attack percentage while Larry Wrather had 15
kills and J.D. Gasparovic had 14 kills. Tommy Rouse contributed with 18 digs.
The Patriots jumped out to an early 3-0 lead but
Ball State won seven of the next 10 points to take the lead. The set stayed
close until, at 19-18, Ball State won four of the next six points to take
control in the endgame. The Patriots won the majority of the long rallies in
the set, but Ball State hit .341 to Mason's .206.
It looked like the second set would follow suit
early as Mason went up 3-0 but Ball State closed to 9-8. But Mason never trailed
in the set. The Patriots used a 5-0 run to go up 14-8. The Cardinals closed to
19-17 but Eric Lucas served Mason to a 22-17 lead and the Patriots held off the
Cardinals down the stretch.
With neither team wanting to go down 2-1, the third set
extended well beyond the 25 points needed to win. The Patriots were in the set
early for just one reason – McFarland. The sophomore had 12 kills and just two
errors in the set, hitting .588 in the set with four digs. The Patriots had to
fight to be in the set after falling behind 12-7. Mason wasn't able to tie the
set until 18-18 and from there, neither team got a two-point separation until
the Patriots finally did at 34-32. There were 19 ties in the set and Mason had
eight set points while Ball State had two.
The fourth set saw Mason come out flat after the
emotional ending to the previous set. The Cardinals were able to go ahead 7-3
and then 16-11. But that was when the Patriots started chipping away. They cut
it to 16-14, then after trailing 20-17, Mason went on a 4-0 run to take its
first lead since 1-0. After the Cardinals tied it, Mason was able to get a side
out and Shaun Sibley served out the match.
The Patriots return to action on Saturday when they
host IPFW at 7 p.m. It will be Mason's last home game until Feb. 25.
