ROMEOVILLE, Illinois – The George Mason men's volleyball team falls in straight sets to the number 11 team in the nation, Lewis.

Lewis won with set scores of 25-13, 29-27, and 25-12.  With tonight's loss, the Patriots move to 8-10 on the season, while Lewis improves their record to 14-4.

The first set was a tough one for the Patriots.  The Flyers were able to jump out to an early lead 9-3 after two kills from Eric Fitterer.  Radoslav Popov and.  Graham Gresham were able to get a couple points back for the Patriots, but then the Flyers went on a big run.  Lewis scored six points in a row to make the score 22-10.  Lewis went on to win the first set 25-13.

The second set was an extremely close one.  This set had 13 tie scores and six lead changes.  The Flyers led for most of the beginning of the set, even taking a 15-9 lead.  However, kills from Jack Wilson, Robbie Stoeckinger, and Popov tied the score at 19.  The game was a hard-fought battle from there until the end.  Wilson got a kill to give Mason set point at 24-23; however, a kill from Bobby Walsh tied the set up again.  Lewis went on to win the set 29-27 after two straight attacking errors from the Green and Gold.

The Flyers jumped out to another early lead in the third and final set going up 9-5 despite kills from Stoeckinger and Gresham.  Another Stoeckinger kill brought the Patriots within one point; however, their comeback bid was cut short as the Flyers went on a big run.  #11 Lewis went on to win the match 25-17.

Reigning EIVA Offensive Player of the Week, Radoslav Popov was one of four Patriots to finish with seven kills in the match.  The others were: Wilson, Stoeckinger, and Hunter Stevens.  Meanwhile, Joe Heim dished out a team-best 29 assists for the Green and Gold.  Popov also helped out on defense, adding a team-best seven digs.

The Flyers were lead by Eric Fitterer, who had a match-best 13 kills.  Scott Fifer also dished out a match-best 33 assists.  Meanwhile, Greg Petty led the Flyer defense with 10 digs.

Up Next: The Patriots host the University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez on Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22.  Both matches will be at the RAC at 7:00 p.m.