FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Rallying from a two set deficit, the George Mason men's volleyball team earned a 3-2 conference win over Sacred Heart on Friday evening at the Pitt Center.
Sacred Heart won the first two sets, 28-26 and 25-14 before Mason responded to take the final three sets by scores of 25-19, 25-19, 15-12. With the win the Patriots improved to 13-11 overall and 9-3 in the conference, while the Pioneers dropped to 3-16 overall and 1-9 in the EIVA.
Mason worked to a three-point advantage in the opening set (10-7), the largest lead either team had in a closely-contested set. With the Patriots leading 10-7, Sacred Heart rallied to tie the set at 10-10 and both teams exchanged points down the stretch to arrive at a 26-26 draw. It was the Pioneers who won out in the end, capitalizing on two consecutive Mason errors to take the set, 28-26.
It was all Sacred Heart in the second set, as it jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Patriots called a timeout. The Pioneers took the next two points out of the break to assume a 7-0 advantage and never let Mason get closer than four points in cruising to the 25-14 set win.
The Mason rally started in the third set, as the squad overcame an early deficit to win, 25-19. Trailing by four points, 9-5, the Patriots went on a 5-1 run keyed by kills from Andrew Dentler and Michael Kvidahl, a kill and service ace by Pat Sibley and a SHU attack error to tie the score at 10-10. It remained close, arriving at an 18-17 Sacred Heart lead before the Patriots rattled off seven unanswered to jump out to a 24-18 lead. The Pioneers added one point, but Kvidahl came up with the final kill to secure the set for the Patriots.
For the second consecutive set, the Pioneers jumped out to an early four point lead at 6-2 in the fourth. Again the Patriots rallied with four unanswered to tie it, 6-6, and work their way back into the match. SHU remained within a point at 8-7 but another big Mason run, this time a 5-0 streak, put the Patriots ahead for good as they coasted to the 25-19 set win.
Mason closed the door in the fifth set, taking a one point advantage (7-6) and building it to four points (10-6). Sacred Heart pulled back to within two points at 14-12, but Mark Jones got the final kill to secure the set, 15-12, and match win for the Patriots.
Four Patriots finished with double-digit kills, led by a match high 20 from Jones, 12 by Kvidahl and 10 apiece from Dentler and Shaun Sibley, while Jackson Carr had a team best 30 assists. Max McFarland had an impressive 17 digs, and Pat Sibley had a match high seven blocks.
Sacred Heart was led by 18 kills from Brad Borsay, 42 assists by Benjamin Thomas and four blocks by Travis Vonholt.
The Patriots continue in conference action tomorrow, taking on Harvard at 2:00 p.m.
