FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's volleyball team took an early two set lead but could not hold off a hot Lewis team as the Patriots fell to the eighth-ranked Flyers, 3-2, on Wednesday evening at The RAC.

Lewis won with set scores of 18-25, 23-25, 25-21, 28-26, 15-10. Lewis improved to 13-5 overall and extended its current winning streak to 12 matches, while the Patriots dropped to 7-8 overall.

Mason never trailed in the opening set, jumping out to an 8-2 advantage in the first set, featuring two kills from Mark Jones and a kill apiece from Michael Kvidahl and Patrick Maloney before the Flyers called their first timeout. Lewis recorded the first point after the break, but the Patriots kept on the attack and extended its lead to as many as seven points (12-5). A 4-0 Lewis run pulled the Flyers to within three points, 12-9, but it was as close as they would get as Mason used a 6-2 run to push its advantage back to seven points (18-11) and cruise to the 25-18 set victory.

Trailing 3-1 to start the second set, Mason went on a 5-0 run to assume a 6-3 lead. The Patriots led by as many as four points before the Flyers worked their way back into the set and eventually tied it at 9-9. Lewis crept out to a slim two-point margin on several occasions down the stretch, but the Patriots found the equalizers each time to stay in the set to bring it to a 22-all draw. Following a Lewis timeout, Kvidahl hit a short serve for a service ace and Piotr Dabrowski tipped a shot over the net to put the Patriots up, 24-22. Lewis called its second timeout of the set and won the point out of the break, but Jones came up with the big kill to close out the set with a 25-23 victory for Mason.

Lewis assumed an early 2-0 lead in the third set, however the Patriots grabbed control of the set with a 7-1 run to take a 7-3 lead and force a Flyer timeout. Mason maintained its lead through the middle of the set and led by as many as four points (15-11) before the Flyers went on a 7-1 scoring run to assume an 18-16 lead and force a Mason timeout. The Patriots played close down the stretch, but they couldn't overcome the late Lewis rally as the Flyers went on to win, 25-21.

Carrying momentum into the fourth set, Lewis assumed a 7-3 lead before the Patriots called a timeout. Slowly chipping away at the visitor's lead, the Patriots went on an 8-4 run to tie it at 11 and took the lead at 15-13, causing the Flyers to call a timeout. Battling to a 20-20 draw, Mason connected on two consecutive points to go up, 22-20 and lead Lewis to call its second timeout of the set. The set needed extra points to be settled after arriving at a 26-26 draw, but the Flyers closed it with two kills to win, 28-26.

Mason took the opening two points in the fifth set, but Lewis tied the set at 3-3 and jumped out to a 7-4 advantage. The Flyers held on down the stretch to close out the victory.

Mark Jones led all players with 22 kills while Kvidahl added 14 and 11 digs for a double-double. Javier Perez also posted a double-double with 48 assists and 11 digs, while Max McFarland led the latter category with a match-high 29 digs. Geoff Powel''s 21 kills and 14 digs paced the Flyers, who held a .266-to-.156 attack advantage in the match.

The Patriots return to conference action this weekend, traveling to face Rutgers-Newark and NJIT.