FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's volleyball team put up a strong battle with No. 8 Penn State but couldn't claim the win as it fell, 3-1, on Saturday evening at the RAC.

The Nittany Lions won with set scores of 21-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-20.

Playing strong out of the gate, Mason (8-14, 4-5 EIVA) opened the first set on a 4-1 run and never trailed the rest of the way as it won, 25-21. After the early Patriots run Penn State (18-3, 11-0 EIVA) responded and eventually tied the game at 10-10, but a PSU service error and consecutive attack errors put Mason up 13-10. The Patriots extended their lead to as many as six points, 21-15, en route to claiming the set.

A reverse of the early run started the second set, as Mason scored the first point but PSU responded with five unanswered to go up, 5-1. The Nittany Lions never allowed the Patriots to pull any closer, winning the set with a score of 25-19.

Mason again fell behind early in the third set, and was never able to overcome a .448 PSU kill percentage, falling 25-16.

Remaining in the match in the fourth set, the Patriots played the Nittany Lions to an 11-11 draw midway through the set. However, Penn State broke the tie with three unanswered points to go up, 14-11, and eventually secure the 20-25 win.

PSU hit .376 for the match, while Mason hit just .194. PSU also won the blocks battle by a slim 17-16 margin.

The Mason offense was paced by redshirt junior outside hitter Andrew Dentler for the second-consecutive match, as he finished with a game-high 14 kills. Junior outside hitter Michael Kvidahl chipped in 11 kills, a game-high four service aces and four blocks, while freshman middle blocker Hunter Stevens added a game-high six blocks and junior setter Javier Perez dished out 36 assists.

PSU received 12 kills apiece from freshman middle hitter Aaron Russell and sophomore outside hitter Jace Olsen. Senior setter Edgardo Goas finished with a game-high 46 assists.

The Patriots return to action next Friday, traveling to face NJIT at 7:00 pm.