FAIRFAX, Virginia – The George Mason men's volleyball team wins its second conference match in a row in a battle against Sacred Heart 3-1.  The Patriots also swept EIVA opponent Harvard in last night's match.

Mason won with set scores of 25-19, 27-25, 23-25, and 30-28.  With tonight's victory, the Patriots improve to 8-8 on the season, while Sacred Heart moves to 7-12.

The Patriots started off on fire, going up early 12-4.  That lead was produced in part by kills from Radoslav Popov, Paco Velez and nine total errors by the Pioneers.  Christian Malias also played a big part in the first-set win, adding four kills for the Patriots.  One of Malias's kills won the Patriots the set 25-19.

The second set was much closer than the first.  This set included 13 ties and seven lead changes.  The Patriots were able to grab an early lead at 10-6 after kills by Popov, Malias, Velez, and Hunter Stevens.  However, after a Sacred Heart time out, the Pioneers came storming back and eventually tied the set up.  Once this set was tied at 16, it went point for point all the way to the end.  The Green and Gold broke the deadlock at 25-25 when Enzo Mackenzie had an attack error and Christian Malias had another game-winning kill.

The third set was another close one.  The Pioneers were the ones to jump out to an early lead at 6-3 thanks in part to a kill from Jason Kinney.  Even though Sacred Heart was in control for most of the set, the Patriots fought back and eventually tied the set at 23.  However, consecutive kills from Brad Borsay and Enzo Mackenzie won the Pioneers the third set 25-23.

The fourth and final set was extremely close and totaled 58 points.  This set also included 12 tie scores and three lead changes.  It looked as if the Patriots were going to win the set easily after they scored six points in a row after one kill from Popov, four kills by Malias and a service ace from Stevens.  However, the Pioneers didn't give up and came back to tie the match at 23.  Mason had a total of six match points after that.  The Patriots finally finished off the Pioneers after one of Paco Velez's five service aces ended the match.

Radoslav Popov led the Patriots for the fourth match in a row with 21 total kills.  Paco Velez and Christian Malias also finished in double digit kills, finishing with 13 and 17, respectively.  Jackson Carr dished out a match-high 54 assists.  Meanwhile, John Jepson and Paco Velez led the Patriot defense with 11 digs each.

The Pioneers were led by Brad Borsay, who finished with a team-high 19 kills.  Rj Uhlir also dished out a team-best 54 assists.  Meanwhile, Aj Logosh finished with a match-best 12 digs to lead Sacred Heart on defense.

Up Next: The Patriots travel to Loyola on Thursday, March 13 and Lewis on Friday, March 14.