UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – In a closely contested match, the second-seeded George Mason men's volleyball team fell just short as it was upended by third-seeded Harvard in the EIVA Championship semifinals, 3-2, on Thursday evening from Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State.
The loss ended the Patriots season with a record of 15-12, while the Crimson improved to 18-8 overall and advanced to face the winner of the No. 1 Penn State/No. 4 Princeton match in semifinal game two.
It was a slow start to the opening set, as both squads worked through early nerves to arrive at a 9-9 draw. A kill by Shaun Sibley and a big block from Andrew Dentler put the Patriots ahead, 11-9 and they extended that lead to as many as four points (14-10) before the Crimson called a timeout. Mason maintained a four-point advantage (20-16) late into the set, but a furious comeback by the Crimson saw it take four consecutive points to tie the set at 20-20. The Patriots took the first point out of a timeout called by the team, but more back-and-forth play brought the score to an even 22-22 before kills by DJ White and Branden Clemens put the Crimson up for good as they claimed the first set, 25-23. Mason hit just .194 and had one team block, compared to .346 hitting and three team blocks by Harvard.
More close play followed in the second set, as neither team led by more than two points in the early going. Harvard led 16-14 midway through, but a big 6-0 run from the Patriots put them ahead by four points, 20-16. Not to be outdone, Harvard followed with a 4-0 run to again tie the game at 20-20 and force a Mason timeout. The Patriots grabbed back the lead with a kill by Michael Kvidahl and service ace from Pat Sibley (22-20) and looked to close out the set, but each time Harvard came up with a response to stay in the set. It took extra points to decide the winner but with the score tied at 26-26, Mark Jones came up with a huge kill and a HU service error sealed the set win for the Patriots, 28-26.
Harvard took the first point of the third set, but Mason set the tempo the rest of the way as it took the third set, 25-17. Trailing 1-0, the Patriots used a 4-0 run keyed by kills from Pat Sibley and Javier Perez and two Pat Sibley service aces to assume a 4-1 lead. Maintaining a three point advantage all the way to 11-8, Harvard crept back into the match with three unanswered points to tie the score, 11-11. However, the Patriots used a big 5-0 run to take back control, 16-11. It was all Mason the rest of the way, as Harvard was unable to get closer than three points down the stretch and the Patriots went up 2-1.
Mason was tripped up at the start of the fourth set, trailing by as many as six points, 12-6. The advantage stayed steady for Harvard all the way to 17-11 before the Patriots mounted a rally to get back to within two points. Kvidahl started the rally with a kill and service ace and after both teams exchanged points, kills by Dentler and Kvidahl and a block assist from Perez and Pat Sibley left the score at 19-17 in favor of Harvard. However, the Patriots were unable to get any closer as the Crimson held on for the 25-22 win to force a fifth and decisive set.
Mason started strong in the fifth set, taking the first point and building its advantage to 11-6. However, the Crimson worked their way back into the set and grabbed the momentum, going on a 5-1 run to get to within a point, 12-11. The Patriots remained close down the stretch, but each time they looked to close out the set Harvard responded before eventually breaking a 17-17 tie by capitalizing on a Mason service error and picking up the win on a service ace from Caleb Zimmick to win the set, 19-17.
Kvidahl posted a match-high 22 kills, and Dentler followed with 19 kills. Perez dished out a match-best 58 assists, while Max McFarland had a strong showing with 20 digs.
Nick Madden led the Crimson with 16 kills, DJ White finished with 15 and Rob Lothman handed out 51 assists. Zimmick was big at the net, finishing with seven blocks.
