CHICAGO, Ill. -The George Mason men's volleyball team avenged
a straight-set loss to Loyola-Chicago one week ago by defeating the Ramblers,
3-1, at Gentile Arena.
Mason won a closely-contested match by set scores of 29-27,
18-25, 25-22, 27-25 to improve to 2-3. The Ramblers dropped to 4-5 overall. The
Patriots hit .287 for the match in addition to posting 13 team blocks.
Mason started strong, registering the opening point of the
first set and leading by as many as four points, 11-7. The Patriots led 14-11
before the Ramblers rallied to tie the set at 14-14. Neither team led by more
than two points, as they exchanged points and battled down to the final points.
With the set tied at 27-27, Mason strung together consecutive kills from
seniors Andrew Dentler and Michael Kvidahl to win the set 29-27.
Close play continued to open the second set, as Mason and
Loyola played to a 7-7 draw. A four-point run by the Ramblers put them ahead
for good, as the Patriots were not able to get any closer than two points and
Loyola cruised to the 25-18 triumph.
The Patriots responded to open the third set, jumping out to
a 3-0 lead and never relinquishing the advantage. Two kills by Dentler and a
block assist by Javier Perez and Shaun Sibley gave Mason the early lead, and
Mason led by as many as five points through the middle of the set. Loyola tied
the match late at 19, but Dentler came up with a big kill to put the Patriots
up for good, as they closed the set with a 6-3 run to win, 25-22.
Loyola scored the first point of the fourth set, but Mason
responded with a 4-0 run to take a 4-1 lead and force a Rambler timeout. The
Patriots pushed the lead to as many as five points, 17-12, late in the set
before Loyola rattled off six-consecutive points to steal the lead, 18-17. The
squads exchanged points to arrive at a 25-25 draw, but a Kvidahl kill and a
block assist by Dentler and classmate Piotr Dabrowski shut down the Ramblers
and secured the match for Mason with a 27-25 victory.
Three Patriots registered double-digit kills, led by 16 from
Dentler, 14 by Kvidahl and 10 from Dabrowski, while Perez dished out 48
assists. Defensively, six of the eight players who took to the court registered
a block, paced by seven from Dabrowski and six from Shaun Sibley.
Loyola's Joseph Smalzer posted a game-high 28 kills, Diego
Rodriguez had 49 assists and Nicholas Olson led the squad with five blocks.
Mason returns to the court tomorrow, facing No. 15 Lewis at
8:00 p.m.
