Courtesy of Teodor Handarov 

Despite coming within a point of forcing a fifth set, the George Mason men's volleyball team fell to No. 11 Ohio State University 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-19, 28-26) on Saturday night at the RAC gym.

Sophomore Radoslav Popov and redshirt junior Paco Velez led the Patriots on offense by registering 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Velez also contributed four service aces, which made it 30 for him for the season. Redshirt sophomore Graham Gresham came off the bench and contributed seven kills on a .788 hitting percentage, while also playing part for five block points. Sophomore libero Christian Malias led Mason's defensive efforts with 13 digs, but four other Patriots finished with at least five: Velez (eight), Popov, redshirt sophomore Jack Wilson, and freshman setter Brian Negron (all five). Negron also had 35 assists. Three Buckeye players combined for 49 of the team's 59 kills in the match – Miles Johnson (19), Nicolas Szerszen (18), and Shawn Herron (12). Szerszen also had five service aces and led his team with 10 digs.

The Buckeyes (13-4) won the first two points of the first set but soon after an attack error allowed Mason to tie the score at 3-3. Once Ohio State pulled away again by winning the next three points, however, the Patriots (5-9) could not come back on level terms for the remainder of the set. The Buckeyes' lead grew to five at 9-4 and although a run by the Patriots cut the margin to two, strong minutes for the Buckeyes followed which helped them accumulate an eight-point lead at 18-10. Later, the Patriots were down 23-17 when Velez stepped up to serve and registered two aces, while also forcing a receiving error, to make the score 23-20 and give the Patriots hope for something more in the set. Coming out of the resulting timeout, Ohio State responded with a kill and a block to close the set at 25-20.

An ace by senior captain Hunter Stevens and a kill by Gresham got Mason off to a good start in the second set, but three consecutive kills by Johnson gave the Buckeyes the lead. Neither team could pull away for a while until three consecutive points gave the Buckeyes an 11-8 lead, the largest of the set. The Patriots fought back and managed to tie the score at 16 with a kill by Popov, but soon after found themselves trailing by two at 20-18. A kill and two back-to-back aces by Velez, however, put Mason in the lead late in the set, one that they managed to keep to ultimately win the set 25-23 after a service error by Ohio State.

The Buckeyes built up a quick two-point lead early in the third set, which they doubled at 9-5. Three consecutive errors by Ohio State helped Mason get within one later in the set at 14-13, but the Buckeyes responded quickly and coach Chao gathered the Patriots in the huddle at 17-14 Ohio State. After the timeout, a kill by Gresham cut Ohio State's lead to one at 19-18, but the Buckeyes went on a 4-0 run late in the set on Szerszen's serving sequence and ensured the victory, which came at 25-20 on an ace by Alex Judkins.

Although the Patriots took the lead on five occasions early in the fourth set, it was the Buckeyes who slowly but surely built a four-point lead at 11-7. The Patriots rallied, however, and two kills by Popov helped them tie the score at 14 and force a Buckeye timeout. Ohio State built a three-point run soon after but a kill by Velez, followed by two attack errors from Herron sent the things back to square one – 19-19. After one timeout for each team in quick succession in the closing stages of the set, a kill by Velez made the score 22-22. After that point, the teams were tied on four more occasions, three coming on Ohio State's responses to Mason's set-points. At 26-26, Szerszen made consecutive kills and settled the match in the Buckeyes' favor.

Mason has the next weekend off, but will continue its homestand the following week, when it welcomes the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in a double-header.