Courtesy of Teodor Handarov

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The George Mason University men's volleyball team put up a good fight but fell 3-1 (25-18, 25-16, 21-25, 25-22) to No. 13 Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio on Friday night.

Redshirt junior Paco Velez led Mason's attack on the night with 17 kills while also contributing seven digs to the Patriots' defensive effort. Redshirt freshman Weston Barnes led the Patriots (0-5) with a game-high 10 digs, while freshman Brian Negron registered seven in addition to his 41 assists. Three players finished the match with double-digit kills for the Buckeyes (5-2) – Nicolas Szerszen had a game-high 20 kills while Miles Johnson and Michael Henchy contributed 13 and 11, respectively.

Ohio State was the first team to pull away in the first set and took an early 7-3 lead for which the Patriots could not find a response. Coach Chao called a timeout at 11-7 in an attempt to slow the Buckeyes' momentum, but the lead continued to grow and reached its highest at 19-12. A kill by senior Hunter Stevens started a late run for the Patriots and Ohio State's coach was forced to take a timeout after a service ace by sophomore Radoslav Popov cut the lead to four at 20-16. The Buckeyes came out of the huddle strong, however, and closed the first set in their favor at 25-18.

Mason had a promising start to the second set when redshirt junior Dom Edgley gave the Patriots their first lead of the match with a kill through the middle. Ohio State went on to win eight of the following 10 points, however, and had a comfortable lead when the Patriots called a timeout at 8-3. A service ace by Stevens later cut the Buckeyes' lead to only three at 11-8, but that is as close as the Patriots got to their opposition. Mason called a second timeout when Ohio State led 17-11, but was unable to slow the Buckeyes' momentum, which allowed them to close out the second set at 25-16.

Despite Ohio State taking the first two points of the third set, a fresher Mason team coming out of the 10-minute intermission quickly took the initiative. After Velez tied the score at 3-3 with a kill, the Patriots went on a 3-0 run on sophomore Christian Malias' serve to enjoy their largest lead of the match up to that point. Frustration in the Buckeye camp rose and the home team decided to call a timeout while trailing 13-9 after a bad set error by Christy Blough. Soon after, a kill by Malias at 15-10 gave Mason its highest lead of the match. Despite Ohio State coming within just two points on four occasions later on, a series of three consecutive errors by the Buckeyes at the very end of the set allowed Mason to win it at 25-21.

Another Buckeye error and a kill by Malias gave the Patriots an early 2-0 lead in the fourth set, but the Buckeyes tied it at 4. In the minutes that followed the two teams exchanged points with neither being able to assert dominance. OSU went on a run, but a well-timed timeout called by coach Chao at 11-8 allowed the Patriots to regroup and tie it back at 12 with the help of three kills by Velez. The Buckeyes found a quick response and scored three unanswered points that set the tempo for the remainder of the game. The Patriots fought back and came within one point late on at 22-21 off a kill by Velez, but it was the Buckeyes' turn to capitalize on errors of the opposition this time around and they took the set with a 25-22 decision and thus the match at 3-1 sets.

The Patriots take the court again tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. at UCWV.