Courtesy of Teodor Handarov 

FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason men's volleyball team defeated Saint Francis University (Pa.) 3-0 (25-17, 37-35, 25-20) in an intense and hard-fought match that was played in the RAC gym on Friday night.

Redshirt junior Paco Velez and sophomore Radoslav Popov were the two Mason players who finished with double-digit kills – 12 and 10, respectively – which was about half of the team's 43 kills in the match. Velez also had five aces and led the rest of the Patriots in digs with his seven, followed by redshirt sophomore Jack Wilson with five and three other players with four – Popov, freshman setter Brian Negron, and sophomore libero Christian Malias. Negron also registered all of the team's 39 assists on the night. Jeremy Gaston finished with 10 kills for the Red Flash, while Ray Frazer led the team with five digs.

The Patriots (9-10, 4-3 EIVA) enjoyed a better start to the match and quickly built up a four-point lead at 8-4. The Red Flash (4-17, 2-5 EIVA) responded quickly and cut that lead in half at 10-8. The Patriots, however, did not let that affect their momentum and restored the lead at 12-8 before increasing it to six at 15-9 on Velez's first ace of the match, forcing a timeout for the opposing team. A kill by sophomore Graham Gresham gave Mason its largest lead at 21-12, but several Patriot errors helped the Red Flash to a 7-2 run that brought them within four points at 23-19. A kill by Popov and an ace by Velez in succession, however, finally closed the set at 25-19 in Mason's favor.

The second set began in the complete opposite way, with Saint Francis getting ahead 3-0 early on. That lead grew to five at 12-7 and forced coach Fred Chao to use his second timeout of the set as well. Although the Red Flash won the first point out of the huddle, Mason went on a 5-1 run on Popov's serving sequence and got within two points for the first time in the set at 14-12. Saint Francis managed to get out of the slump, however, and tied their highest lead at 22-16 and moments later earned their first set point at 24-19. With Velez on the serve to save the set for the Patriots, what followed were five consecutive errors by the Red Flash that allowed Mason to tie the set at 24. A kill by Velez on the following play gave Mason its first lead and first set point of the second set, but the drama was just starting. From that moment, the Patriots had nine set points in a row, but Saint Francis stayed alive every time and even found the strength to come ahead once again at 35-34. That, however, turned out to be their last point of the set, because kills by Velez and Popov were culminated with a block by the sophomore, which wrapped up the highest scoring set for the Patriots this season at 37-35.

If that had not given the Patriots enough momentum, then the two consecutive aces by Velez in the beginning of the third set definitely did. The Patriots built up a four-point lead at 8-4, but the Red Flash shook off the tough loss and fought back to tie the score at 9 before grabbing its first lead at 11-10. Saint Francis enjoyed one more short lead at 12-11 following the timeout called by the Patriots, but a 4-0 run put Mason up by three at 15-12. The teams were all square again in mid-set at 16-16, but when Mason won six of the seven next points, the Red Flash could not bounce back and Velez's ace for 25-20 finished off the match.

The win leaves the Patriots in fourth place in the EIVA standings, but they are now with a two-win advantage over Saint Francis and Sacred Heart University for the last post-season spot. On Saturday, Mason will face conference leader Penn State in what is always the most anticipated match of the season at the RAC. First serve is at 7 p.m.