FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's volleyball team put up
a tough fight against the No. 10 Ohio State Buckeyes but fell in straight sets,
3-0, on Sunday afternoon at the RAC.
Ohio State improved to 20-8 with a straight set win, 25-23,
25-23, 25-22. With the loss the Patriots dropped to 11-15 overall.
Neither team posted strong hitting numbers, as the Buckeyes
hit .219 compared to .167 for Mason. OSU also held a 17-13 advantage in the
block column, while the Patriots bested the kills (41-37) and assists (38-35)
totals.
Mason opened the first set hot, going up 3-0 off of kills
from Andrew Dentler and Piotr Dabrowski and an OSU setting error. The Patriots
maintained the advantage, eventually grabbing its largest lead of the set at
11-7, and after an Ohio State timeout, both teams exchanged points to leave the
score at 15-11 in favor of the Patriots. Mason was unable to hold on to the
advantage as the Buckeyes used a 5-0 run to assume a 16-15 lead. Despite surrendering
the lead Mason fought to stay in the match, playing the Buckeyes to a 21-21
draw. OSU put up two points to go up 23-21 before the Patriots came out of a
timeout and recorded a kill from Mark
Jones to pull to within one, 23-22. Both teams exchanged points to leave the
scoreboard at 24-23 in favor of the Buckeyes, who received the set point on a
service error by Hunter Stevens to win, 25-23.
Ohio State took an early 3-1 lead in the second set, but the
Patriots rattled off a 7-1 run to jump out to an 8-4 advantage. Michael Kvidahl
and Dabrowski started the run, and after a Kvidahl service error the Patriots
added five more points with single kills from Dentler, Jones, Stevens and two
OSU attack errors for an 8-4 advantage. Maintaining the lead midway through the
set, Mason owned a 17-12 edge before Ohio State rallied for a 10-4 run to
assume a 22-21 lead, forcing a Mason timeout. The Patriots tied the match at
23-23, but OSU registered the final two points of the set for the 25-23
triumph.
Playing to a 9-9 draw to open the third set, the Buckeyes
grabbed the lead for good with a 5-1 run to go up, 14-10. Mason rallied with
three unanswered to pull back to within a point, 14-13, but another OSU run
gave the Buckeyes a 19-13 advantage. Trailing by five, 23-17, the Patriots
mounted a late rally with a 5-1 run that featured kills by Stevens, Kvidahl and
Dentler and two OSU errors to pull to within two, 24-22. However, Ohio State
called a late timeout and closed the match on a kill from Mik Berzins for the
final 25-22 margin.
Dentler, Jones and Kvidahl finished the match with 11 kills
apiece, while junior setter Javier Perez dished out a game-high 34 assists and
Dabrowski chipped in a game-high four blocks.
The Buckeyes were led by 14 kills apiece from Berzins and
Nick Gibson.
The Patriots return to action next week, concluding regular-season
action with two EIVA home matches against Rutgers-Newark and Princeton.
