MALIBU, Calif. - The George Mason men's volleyball team played a closely-contested match against No. 7 Pepperdine but couldn't come up with the win as it fell, 3-0, on Saturday evening.

The Waves claimed the sweep with set scores of 25-19, 25-23, 25-21.

Falling behind 2-0 in the first set, the Patriots (7-13) used a 5-0 run that featured a kill from junior outside hitter Mark Jones, two kills by redshirt senior outside hitter Joe Norton and two Michael Kvidahl service aces to take a 5-2 lead. After a Wave timeout, Pepperdine (12-10) went on a 4-0 run to take back the lead, 6-5. Both teams exchanged points to bring the set to an 11-11 tie, but the Waves claimed the lead for good on a kill by Matt Tarantino to go up 12-11, and then used a 9-4 run to assume a six-point lead (21-15) it maintained the rest of the way for the 25-19 win.

In a closely-contested second set that featured seven ties early in the set, both teams played to a 13-13 draw before the Patriots went on a 3-0 run to assume a 16-13 advantage. Mason maintained its lead, advancing all the way to a 22-21 lead before Pepperdine closed the set with a 4-1 run, winning the set by a score of 25-23.

Mason played Pepperdine close in the third set, as both teams arrived at an early 8-8 draw. The Waves took the lead on the next point, but the Patriots kept close, never letting Pepperdine gain more than a two-point advantage and coming to as close as one point, 15-16, midway through the set. However, Pepperdine then used a 3-0 run to go up, 19-15, and the Patriots were unable to pull any closer as they fell, 25-21.

Jones led Mason with a game-high 12 kills, while Kvidahl chipped in eight kills and two service aces. Junior setter Javier Perez dished out 26 assists, and junior middle blocker Piotr Dabrowski finished with three blocks.

Maurice Torres had a team-high 11 kills and three service aces for Pepperdine, and Matt West contributed a game-high 31 assists.

Mason returns to the RAC next weekend, hosting St. Francis in EIVA action at 7:00 pm.