FAIRFIELD, Connecticut – The George Mason men's volleyball team falls in its first EIVA conference match of the season to Sacred Heart 3-1.

Sacred Heart won with set scores of 17-25, 25-23, 25-21, and 25-21.  With tonight's loss, the Patriots move to 4-5 on the season, while Sacred Heart improves their record to 5-6.

The Green and Gold started off strong, jumping out to an 11-6 lead thanks to kills by Joe Heim, Radoslav Popov, Jack Wilson, and Hunter Stevens.  Mason played extremely well the rest of the set and won easily 25-17.

It looked like the Patriots had the momentum going into the rest of the match, however, Sacred Heart fought back in the second set.  This set went back and forth and even had nine ties.  A kill from Jonathan Lutz got Mason within one point at 22-21; however, the Pioneers went on to win the set 25-23.

The third set was another close one.  Kills by Raymond Satagaj and Brad Borsay gave Sacred Heart a four-point lead (13-9).  The Pioneers even shot out to an 18-12 lead, but George Mason fought back and got the lead down to three (20-17).  It wasn't enough, as Sacred Heart went on to win it 25-21.

The fourth and final set was another close one to the end.  Mason led at one point in this set 12-9 after a kill by Jack Wilson and two attack errors by the Pioneers.  Sacred Heart won four points in a row to take the lead back and didn't give it up.  Sacred Heart went on to win the match with a set score of 25-21.

Jonathan Lutz was the only Patriot in double digit kills, leading the team with 12 in the match.  Meanwhile, senior Joe Heim dished out a team-high 37 assists.  Heim also helped out on defense, leading the team with 11 total digs.

The Pioneers were lead by Brad Borsay, who had a match-best 16 kills.  Rj Uhlir also dished out a match-best 43 assists.  Meanwhile, Aj Logosh led Sacred Heart with 16 total digs on defense.

Up Next: The Patriots travel to Harvard tomorrow afternoon, February 16 at 3:00 p.m.