FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's volleyball team moved to .500 on the season with a 3-1 non-conference victory over Juniata College Friday evening at the RAC. Set scores were 25-15, 23-25, 25-13, 25-18, as the Patriots improved to 10-10 on the season and the Eagles dropped to 17-8.
Jonathan Lutz led all players with 17 kills on .444 hitting while Michael Kvidahl added 13 kills, pacing a Patriots attack that out-hit the Eagles, .378-to-.183. Also recording match-highs were Javier Perez with 43 assists and nine digs and Kvidahl with four aces. Leading the way for Juniata was Paul Kuhn who had eight kills.
Mason stormed to an early 8-1 lead in the opening set and would not trail again. The Eagles pulled to within five at 12-7, but the Patriots responded with four straight points to force a Juniata timeout at 16-7. From there, seven points would be as close as the Eagles would get as the Patriots had no trouble earning the first set victory.
The second set was a much closer affair, as neither team led by more than three points until four in a row by the Patriots broke a 14-14 deadlock. Juniata answered and tied the score at 19, and each team subsequently forced a side out. Mason got three in a row on kills by Shaun Sibley, Lutz and Kvidahl to make it 23-20, but the Eagles responded with five straight points, including Ross Madden's kill which evened the match at one set apiece.
Another close contest opened the third set, but the Patriots used a huge run to break a 10-all tie. Five straight points went to the home team, and after Paul Kuhn registered a kill to make the score 15-11, the Green and Gold answered with eight consecutive points. The teams swapped points as the Patriots picked up another double-digit set win.
Mason jumped out to a 7-3 advantage in the first set, and again did not trail. Juniata closed to within 9-6, but the three point margin would be as close as they would get. Clinging to a 22-18 lead after three straight Eagle points, the Patriots rallied with a pair of kills by Kvidahl and one from Lutz to seal the match victory.
The Patriots are back in action at home on Saturday night, hosting Lees-McRae at 7 p.m. at the RAC.
