FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's volleyball team wrapped up
regular season action with a 3-2 loss to Princeton on Saturday afternoon at The
RAC.
The Patriots dropped to 12-16 overall and 8-6 in the EIVA,
but still held on to the No. 3 seed in the upcoming EIVA tournament. They will
face No. 2 seed Harvard in the semifinals of the tournament on Thursday on the
campus of Penn State.
With the win Princeton kept its playoff hopes alive,
improving to 13-9 overall and 7-7 in the conference.
The match was closely contested, as neither team was able to
maintain a significant lead through all five sets.
Battling back and forth to a 14-12 Princeton advantage
midway through the fourth set, the Patriots rattled off five unanswered points
to assume a 17-14 lead. Mason maintained its momentum, scoring five of the next
seven points to go up 22-16 and force a Princeton timeout. The Tigers scored
the first point out of the break, but the Patriots held them at bay the rest of
the way to secure the set, 25-19.
Continuing the clash between the team, Princeton was able to
maintain a two-point lead early in the second set, going up 11-9. The Tigers jumped out to a 16-9 lead with a
5-0 run, but Mason worked its way back into the match to pull to within two
points, 24-22, sparked by a 4-0 that used kills by junior outside hitter Andrew
Dentler and senior outside hitter Joe Norton and two Michael Kvidahl service
aces. However, the Tigers took the set on an attack error by Dentler, winning
25-22.
Playing to an 18-18 draw in the third set, the Patriots took
charge with three unanswered points to grab a 21-18 lead. Princeton ended the
Mason run with a timeout and scoring out of the break, but Mason responded with
a point of its own and maintained its lead the rest of the way to win, 25-22.
A closely contested fourth set kept the teams and fans on
edge, as the two squads battled to leave the score knotted at 23-23 after
neither team was able to lead by more than two points. With Mason serving, the
Tigers picked up the final two set points on Mason attack errors for a 25-23
set victory.
Mason never led in the fifth set, as Princeton jumped out to
an early 4-1 lead. The Patriots rallied to tie the match at 5-5 and kept the
score knotted at 7-7, but the Tigers then used a 6-0 run to grab a 13-7 lead
and win the final set, 15-11.
The Patriots outhit the Tigers, .205-.172 and also won the
team block category, 13.5-8.0.
In a strong offensive day, Dentler led Mason with 20 kills,
15 digs and five blocks. Kvidahl registered 18 kills, while Norton played well
as the lone senior on senior day, finishing with a career-high 15 kills. Junior
setter Javier Perez dished out a game-high 58 assists.
The Tigers were led by 17 kills from Cody Kessel, 16 kills
by Will Siroky and 35 assists by Scott Liljestrom.
