LORETTO, Pennsylvania - The George Mason men's volleyball wins a crucial EIVA match against St. Francis (Pa.) to move into fourth place in the conference standings.  St. Francis drops to fifth place by a half of a game.  The Patriots move to 11-10 on the season, while St. Francis moves to 9-11.

The Patriots won a five-set thriller with set scores of: 20-25, 25-23, 25-17, 21-25, and 15-11.

The first set was an extremely close one and really set the tone for the entire match.  With the score going back and forth, no team really took a large lead.  After an attack error from Logan Patterson, the Patriots were able to tie the game at 10 all.  However, the Red Flash grabbed the lead quickly and never gave it back up.  Even though the set was close the entire way out, St. Francis went on to win 25-20.

The Patriots were able to take the second set and tie the match up at 1-1.  Even though the set was close for the entirety, the Patriots were able to grab a 20-16 lead after two attacking errors from the Red Flash.  Despite St. Francis coming within one point at the end, the Patriots held the lead and won the set after kills from Radoslav Popov and Hunter Stevens.

The Green and Gold continued its momentum from the second set into the third set.  The Patriots jumped out to an early lead thanks in part to kills from Popov, Stevens, and Jonathan Lutz.  After going up 21-17, the Patriots won four points in a row to win the third set. 

Mason grabbed an early lead in the fourth thanks in part to one of Lutz's 17 kills and two Red Flash attacking errors (8-4).  However, St. Francis came storming back and eventually took a large lead at 20-16.  The Patriots got within one point, until the Red Flash won three points in a row to win the set.

With the match going to a fifth set, fourth place in the EIVA standings were on the line.  Graham Gresham won the first point of the set with a kill to start things off right for the Patriots.  The Green and Gold led for most of this fifth and final set and eventually won the match after a clutch Christian Malias kill (15-11).

Jonathan Lutz led the Patriots with a match-high 17 kills to go along with his 18 points. Christian Malias, Hunter Stevens, and Radoslav Popov also finished with double-digit kills in the match.  Senior Joe Heim dished out a season-high 54 assists.  Meanwhile, Dave Lucas added a season-best 14 digs to lead the Patriots defense.

The Red Flash were lead by Mark Kochan, who had a team-best 17 kills.  Michael Krepp also dished out a team-best 49 assists.  Meanwhile, Lucas Behringer led the St. Francis defense with 14 digs in the match.

Up Next: The Patriots stay in Pennsylvania to take on #13 Penn State on Saturday, March 29 at 7:00 p.m.