LORETTO, Pa. – The George Mason men's volleyball team fell to Saint Francis (Pa.) in four sets tonight.  This match was the Patriots EIVA conference opener.  The Red Flash (1-11) won with set scores of (20-25, 25-21, 25-17, and 26-24).

Radoslav Popov led the Patriot attack with 13 kills and just five errors.   Paco Velez, Jack Wilson, and Hunter Stevens each contributed nine kills.  Velez, Reigning EIVA Defensive Player of the Week, also had seven digs in the match.  However, Wilson led the team with nine digs.   Freshman Brian Negron provided a match-best 43 assists.

The Patriots (2-7) led 22-20 in the first set, but a Velez kill and two Red Flash errors won Mason the first set.  The second set was another close one.  The Patriots got within one (21-22), but three errors in a row gave St. Francis the second set win. 

The Red Flash jumped out to an early lead in the third set and didn't look back, eventually winning 25-17.  The fourth set was an extremely close game.  The Patriots led 22-21 at one point, but St. Francis came back and eventually won after a Jeff Hogan service ace.

Stephen Braswell and Jeremy Gaston led the Red Flash with 12 kills each in the match.  Daniel Ford led the defense with 11 digs.

The Green and Gold take on Penn State tomorrow night at 7 p.m. to continue EIVA play.