FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's volleyball team fought a tough battle but came up on the short end as it fell to Harvard, 3-2, on Friday evening at the RAC.

The Crimson won with set scores 25-18, 22-25, 23-25, 25-20, 17-15.

Playing to a 3-3 draw early in the first set the Crimson (10-2, 4-2 EIVA) used a 5-1 run to assume an 8-4 lead. Harvard extended its lead to as many as five points (10-5), but the Patriots (5-11, 1-4 EIVA) rallied to pull to within two points at 14-12. However, Mason couldn't pull any closer as Harvard closed the set with an 11-6 run to win by a 25-18 margin.

The second set was closely contested, as both teams battled to an 11-11 draw. Mason grabbed the on the next point, receiving a kill from junior outside hitter Michael Kvidahl to go up, 12-11. The Patriots led by as many as four points late in the set, (19-15) before the Crimson rallied to tie the match at 21-21. A kill by junior outside hitter Mark Jones gave Mason the lead for good, and a kill by Kvidahl wrapped up the set as Mason won, 25-22.

Mason commanded the third set, never trailing as it won, 25-23. HU kept it close, never trailing by more than two points and coming within one point at the end of the set, 24-23. Redshirt senior Joe Norton came up with a key kill to secure the set for Mason, which saw the team hit its best percentage in any set of the match (.382).

The roles reversed in the fourth set, as Harvard controlled the set after playing to a 6-6 tie. The Crimson rally started with a 4-0 run to push their advantage to 10-6. Mason attempted to respond but pulled no closer than two points the remainder of the way, forcing a decisive fifth set.

In the fifth set, Mason jumped out to a 7-3 lead and looked like it was on its way to close the match. However, after maintaining a four-point lead at 11-7, the Crimson used a 5-1 run to tie the match at 12-12. Both teams exchanged points to arrive at a 15-15 tie before Harvard closed the match with a kill from DJ White and an attack error by Kvidahl to win, 17-15.

Mason hit just .184 for the match, while Harvard was limited to .210 hitting.

Kvidahl paced the Patriots with 17 kills, while Norton finished with 12 kills and sophomore setter Pete Cuppernull dished out a team-high 40 assists. Junior middle blocker Piotr Dabrowski had a game-high 10 blocks (3 BS, 7 BA).

Harvard's Matt Jones compiled a game-high 20 kills, followed by 15 kills from White and 13 from Nick Madden.

The Patriots return tomorrow, hosting Sacred Heart at 4:00 pm.