LORETTO, Pa. - Slow set starts and a hot hitting Saint
Francis squad proved to be too much to overcome as the George Mason men's
volleyball team fell in straight sets on Saturday evening at Degol Arena.
Saint Francis improved to 6-10 overall and 3-4 in the EIVA,
while Mason dropped to 5-7 overall and 3-2 in the conference. The Red Flash hit
a hot .380 and posted 11 blocks in the match, compared to just .157 hitting and
4.5 blocks for the Patriots.
The Red Flash took an early 2-0 lead and slowly built on its
advantage as it won the set, 25-15. Mason remained within two points at 6-4,
but a 4-1 SFU run put the home team up by five points (10-5) as they started to
run away with the match. The Patriots were unable to pull any closer than five
points, and the Red Flash closed on a 5-1 run for the final ten-point margin.
Maintaining its momentum to open the second set, SFU
registered the first two points and led by as many as five points (9-4) in the
early going. The Patriots found their way back into the match, eventually tying
the score at 17-17. Trailing by four points, 17-13, Mason rattled off four
unanswered points including two kills by Michael Kvidahl and two SFU attack
errors to knot the scoreboard. It was a deadlock the rest of the way, as both
squads exchanged points to end up at a 26-26 draw. However, SFU earned the set
win after scoring the final two points for the 28-26 set victory.
A slow start to the third set again plagued the Patriots, as
they fell behind 4-0 early. After a Mason timeout, Kvidahl recorded a kill to
end the SFU run, but three more Red Flash points put the home team up 7-1 and
secured the match sweep as they went on to win the set, 25-17.
Kvidahl posted a match-high 17 kills, Javier Perez added 32
assists and Piotr Dabrowski finished with a team-best two blocks.
Logan Patterson and ColinSherwin finished with a team-high
13 kills apiece for SFU, while Michael Krepp had a match-high 33 assists and
Mark Kochan chipped in a match-best seven blocks.
The Patriots return to action next weekend, hosting Harvard
and Sacred Heart in EIVA action.
