Courtesy of Teodor Handarov 

MUNCIE, IN – The George Mason University men's volleyball team grabbed its second win of the season in a most convincing fashion when it swept #13 Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. on Saturday night.

Mason's redshirt sophomore Jack Wilson and sophomore Radoslav Popov led all scorers on the night, registering 14 and 12 kills, respectively, and contributing a service ace each. Matt Walsh and Marcin Niemczewski led the Cardinals' attack with 10 kills each. Six Patriots registered assists in the match and were led by freshman setter Brian Negron had game-high 29 assists.

The Cardinals (2-1 MIVA, 7-3) had a better start to the match and Mason's coach Fred Chao called a timeout early on as his team trailed 4-1. The lead grew to four points at 6-2 but the Patriots' (2-6) defensive and offensive lines began to click and they tied the score at 7. Despite coming within one on multiple occasions, the Patriots could not get ahead and a loss of concentration towards the end of the set gave the Cardinals the opportunity to get a three-point lead at 21-18. Mason came out of the resulting timeout strong and went on crucial 4-0 run that helped them save two Ball State set-points and then win two consecutive to close the first set 26-24.

Despite losing the first two points of the second set, Mason quickly got back on level terms at 4-4 with a block by junior Hermann De Gennaro. Three unanswered points by the Cardinals left the Patriots trailing again, but this time coach Chao's men found a quicker response and tied the score again at 11 with an ace by Wilson. Consecutive attack errors by Ball State switched the momentum in favor of the Patriots and they used the opportunity to accumulate a four-point lead. The Cardinals could not find a timely response and their coach was forced to call a timeout at 21-17. The set was decided on redshirt junior Paco Velez's serve sequence, which included two aces, for the final 25-17.

The Patriots capitalized on four errors by the Cardinals to get an early 4-2 lead, which grew to three – their highest of the set – at 6-3. A 5-0 run put the Cardinals in the lead and coach Chao tried to kill the momentum with a timeout at 8-6 Ball State. The Cardinals continued to be in pole position and their lead reached five at 15-10. Mason used a timeout in the final stages of the set with the Cardinals leading 21-17. The Patriots came out of the huddle highly motivated and fought hard to tie the score at 24 with a kill by Popov. The Cardinals called a timeout, but could not stop the Patriots' from completing the sweep with a 27-25 win in the third set.

Thus, Mason registered their first win over a ranked opponent since March 1, 2013. The Patriots will try to build on the momentum when they travel to St. Francis University (Pa.) and their arch-rival Penn State University in the opening weekend of Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association competition.