FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The George Mason men's volleyball team
won its second match in as many days as it topped IPFW, 3-2, at the Gates
Sports Center on Saturday evening.
Mason emerged victorious with score sets of 25-21, 24-26,
21-25, 25-23, 15-13. With the win, the Patriots claimed the season sweep of
IPFW, having defeated the Mastodons, 3-2, last Friday evening in Fairfax.
Never trailing in the first set, the Patriots (3-2) emerged
with the 25-21 set win behind six kills from junior outside hitter Mark Jones
and four from redshirt senior Joe Norton.
Mason trailed IPFW (3-3) for the majority of the second set,
but finally grabbed the lead with the score at 19-18. The Patriots were able to
push their advantage to three points (21-18), but the Mastodons ended the set
on an 8-3 run for the final 26-24 margin. The third set reflected the second,
as IPFW led by as many as nine points (23-14) before the Patriots went on a 6-0
run to pull to within three points (23-20). The run proved to not be enough, as
the Mastodons regained control and closed the set with a final score of 25-21.
Mason stayed alive in the fourth set, coming out on top of a
back-and-forth match that saw 10 lead changes. The final lead change favored
the Patriots, as they took the lead with the score tied at 23-23 off of a
handling error by IPFW's Elon Fyfield. Freshman middle blocker Hunter Stevens
came up with the solo block for the set point as Mason won, 25-23, forcing a
fifth set.
Both teams battled in the decisive fifth set, as Mason
finally took the lead for good with the score tied at 13-13 when Jones closed
the set with two kills as the Patriots claimed the set by a score of 15-13.
For the match, Mason was led by Jones who posted a game-high
28 kills in addition to four blocks. Redshirt freshman setter Pete Cuppernull finished
with 52 assists and six blocks, while junior middle blocker Piotr Dabrowski
also chipped in a team-high six blocks.
Phil Peterson led the Mastodons with 18 kills, and Omar
Rivera recorded a game-high 55 assists and eight blocks.
The Patriots return to action on Friday, traveling to face
No. 14 Loyola-Chicago at 8:00 pm.
