FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason men's volleyball team fell in four sets (23-25, 26-24, 18-25, and 15-25) to Harvard (10-8, 4-2) in a tough EIVA match.  The Patriots (8-10, 3-3) won in a five-set match last night against EIVA opponent Sacred Heart to split the weekend.

Radoslav Popov led the Patriots with 13 kills for the second consecutive match.  Jack Wilson and Paco Velez also finished in double digits for Mason with 12 and 10, respectively.  Velez had his second straight double-double, finishing with 11 digs in the match.  Christina Malias led the defense with a career-high 15 digs in the four sets.  Freshman Brian Negron provided the bulk of assists, finishing with 36 of the teams 38.

Harvard was able to stop the Patriots attack with some good individual blocking.  Marko Kostich, Caleb, Zimmick, and Branden Clemens all finished with three solo blocks.  Clemens also led all players with 17 kills in the match.  Casey White finished with a team-best 12 digs on the defensive side.

The first set went back and forth the entire way throughout.  After going down 7-5, the Patriots were able to climb back and take a 9-7 lead to force a Harvard timeout.  However, the Crimson fought back and forced Mason into a timeout after they regained the lead at 21-18.  Harvard was able to close out the set after a kill from Zimmick and a Patriot attacking error, 25-23.

The Patriots trailed for the majority of the second set, going down by as much as four points at 20-16.  The Patriots then scored six straight points thanks to a couple Popov kills and some Harvard errors to take a 22-20 lead.  Mason fought off a Harvard comeback attempt to take the second set 26-24 on a Paco Velez kill.

The third set was another close one and included nine tie scores.  However, towards the end of the set, the Crimson broke away from the Patriots and took a 19-17 lead, forcing a Mason timeout.  The Patriots couldn't recover after the timeout and Harvard went on to win the set 25-18.

The fourth set was close in the beginning with the two EIVA teams tied at 4-4.  After that, Harvard grabbed a four-point lead at 9-5, forcing the Patriots to call a timeout.  Mason couldn't produce a comeback, and the Crimson eventually went on to win the set and match 25-15.

The Patriots host another pair of EIVA matches against St. Francis (Pa.) on Friday and Penn State on Saturday next weekend.