UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The George Mason men's volleyball team played a close match and earned one set against No. 9 Penn State, but couldn't overcome an early two-set deficit as it fell, 3-1, on Friday evening at the Rec Building.

With the win, PSU improved to 11-3 overall and 5-1 in the EIVA, while the Patriots dropped to 5-6 overall and 3-1 in the conference. Mason hit .235 in the match, while PSU hit .281. Both team posted 10.0 team blocks.

Penn State scored the first point of the opening set and led the entire way en route to the 25-21 victory. Tied at 2-2, the Nittany Lions rattled off four unanswered to jump out to a 6-2 advantage and force a Mason timeout. PSU recorded two more points out of the timeout to extend its lead to 8-2 before a service error by Aaron Russell ended the scoring streak. The Patriots pulled to within two points (20-18) late in the set but couldn't get any closer as PSU took the set.

The second set saw Mason take the first two points and lead by as many as three points (5-2) in the early going. The Patriots maintained the lead to 6-5, but a 4-0 PSU run gave the Nittany Lions a 9-6 advantage. Penn State maintained its advantage to 12-15, but Mason worked its way back to pull to within one point, 15-16. The 3-0 Patriot run, keyed by a kill from Mark Jones, block by Jones and Piotr Dabrowski and a PSU attack error, cut the home team advantage to one point. Mason remained close at 17-16, but a 3-0 PSU run put the match away for the Nittany Lions as they went on to win the set, 20-25.

A closely-contested third set saw both teams battle to a 7-7 draw early. Mason then rattled off three consecutive kills, including two from Jones and one from Dabrowski, to take a 10-7 lead and force a PSU timeout. The Patriots used several small runs in the set and never relinquished the lead, leading by as many as four points before earning the set victory, 25-21.

Close play opened the fourth set, as the squads ended up at a 4-4 draw before PSU went ahead with a 4-1 run to assume an 8-5 lead. The Patriots hung in, remaining within two points before tying the match at 12-12. Mason stayed close to PSU trailing by just one point at 18-17, before the Nittany Lions used a 4-1 run to assume a 22-18 advantage. After a Mason timeout the Patriots mounted a late rally, registering 4-1 run of its own to pull back to within one point, 23-22. However, PSU scored the final two points of the set as it won, 25-22.

Jones posted a match-high21 kills, while junior Pat Sibley chipped in 12 and Javier Perez dished 40 assists. Dabrowski finished with a match-high eight kills and Jones added five.

PSU's Tom Comfort led the team with 18 kills, Taylor Hammond had a match-high 47 assists and Matt Siefert had a team-best five blocks.

The Patriots return to action tomorrow, facing Saint Francis at 7:00 p.m.