PHOENIX, Arizona – The George Mason men's volleyball team went up two sets to one, but ended up losing to Grand Canyon University in a five-set thriller.

The Antelope's won with set scores of: 27-25, 14-25, 23-25, 25-20, and 15-13.  With tonight's win, Grand Canyon improves to 4-2 on the season.  George Mason falls to 0-2.

After going back and forth in the first set, the Antelope's jumped out to a 20-14 lead.  However, the Patriots battled back and tied the set up at 24 after a kill by Radoslav Popov, forcing a Grand Canyon timeout.  That wasn't enough; as Grand Canyon went on to win the set 27-25.

In the second set the Patriots jumped out to an 8-5 lead.  Then, Mason capitalized on three attack errors and one service error from Grand Canyon and kills by Dom Edgley and Radoslav Popov to win seven points in a row.  The Patriots won the second set easily, 25-14.

The score went back and forth in the third set, with Mason trailing 15-10 after kills from Ben Ponnet and Robbie Brannick.  However, the Green and Gold fought back to tie the set up at 17.  The Patriots went on to win the set 25-23 with another clutch kill by Radoslav Popov.

Grand Canyon jolted out to a quick lead in the fourth set, taking the first six points.  The Antelope's didn't look back, as they never lost the lead in this set, winning comfortably 25-20.

The Patriots went down early in the fifth and final set, (3-7) forcing a Mason timeout.  The Patriots fought back and got the lead down to one (9-10) with kills by Radoslav Popov, Hunter Stevens, and Robbie Stoeckinger.  The score went back and forth all the way to the end until a kill by Gerrard Lipscombe gave Grand Canyon the victory (15-13).

Four Patriots finished with double digit kills including: Popov (12), Robbie Stoeckinger (10), Hunter Stevens (10), and Jack Wilson (10).  Meanwhile, Pete Cuppernull led the Green and Gold with 45 assists.  Hunter Stevens also had a team-high 12 total blocks.

Ben Ponnet led the Antelope's with a match-best, 18 kills. Gerrard Lipscombe was also in double digits, with 16 kills.  Keith Smith dished out a match-high 50 assists.

The Patriots play the Antelopes again in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, January 25.