Box Score WHO: Men's Volleyball at No. 7 Ohio State
WHERE: St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
FINAL SCORE: Ohio State 3, Mason 0
KEY PLAYERS: Dom Edgley – 3 serve aces, .333 hitting (team-high); Paco Velez – 8 kills (7 in the third set)
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1st
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2nd
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3rd
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Total
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George Mason (0-4)
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22
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19
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22
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0
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Ohio State (3-2)
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25
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25
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25
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3
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Columbus, Ohio – George Mason University's men's volleyball team showcased its talent in sporadic moments, but didn't have the consistency to take at least a set from No. 7 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio on Friday night and lost in straight sets to the Buckeyes.
MATCH NOTES
-Redshirt senior opposite hitter Paco Velez had 7 kills in the third set and finished with 8 overall to lead the Patriots' attack along with junior outside hitter Christian Malias, who also had 8; junior libero Johnny Gomez had team-high 5 digs.
-The MIVA Offensive Player of the Week Nicolas Szerszen continued impressing early in the season and led all players on the night with 18 kills on a .733 hitting percentage and 9 digs; Christian Franceschi also had an impressive attacking performance with 7 kills on a .455 hitting percentage and contributed two of the Buckeyes' three serve aces.
-Mason had three early leads in the error-filled beginning of the first set, but Ohio State went on a 3-0 run and took the first two-point lead of the match at 5-3. Momentum switched over to the Buckeyes' side of the court and OSU continued to execute well in attack to take a 12-6 lead later on and force Mason's first timeout in the contest.
-The Patriots looked fresher when they came out of the huddle and aces by junior outside hitter Radoslav Popov and redshirt senior Dom Edgley sparked some momentum for Mason that helped the team cut the lead in half and force a Buckeye timeout at 15-12.
-Edgley continued terrorizing Ohio State's receivers after the break and made it a one-point set at 15-14 with two additional aces. Mason was within one on three additional occasions – lastly at 20-19 – but another kill by Szerszen and an attack error by the Patriots gave the Buckeyes another three-point lead at 22-19, which was enough for Ohio State to close the opening set at 25-22 with strong side-out performance for the remainder of it.
-Kills by Popov and Edgley, respectively, gave Mason its only two-point leads in the match at 6-4 and 7-5 early in the second set, but three consecutive points by OSU – two on Szerszen kills – halted the Patriots' momentum and put the Buckeyes in the lead, 8-7. Ohio State's lead grew to three points three times after that but every time Mason responded accordingly and Popov's fourth kill of the night tied the score at 16 all.
-After Szerszen gave the Buckeyes the lead again with a kill for 17-16, Peter Edwards went on a serving sequence that gave the Patriots plenty of trouble and helped OSU to four consecutive points that made the advantage five at 21-16, which was decisive in the outcome of the set, which went the Buckeyes' way 25-19.
-Similar to the preceding two sets, the beginning of the third set was very contested and Mason took three leads through freshmen middle blocker and outside hitter, respectively, Bryant Ekstein and Kyle Barnes. However, Ohio State found a response each time and even managed to take the lead shortly after at 5-4.
-The Buckeyes led by as many as five at 15-10, but the Patriots showed character and came back three times, twice on kills by Velez, who had seven in the final set. Another kill by the redshirt senior brought the Patriots within one at 23-22 in the final minutes, but Ohio State capitalized on a service error by Mason and had some luck to set up an attack that finished with a match-winning kill by Szerszen at 25-22.
STAT BREAKDOWN
-Ohio State hit significantly better in the match, .397 in comparison to Mason's .187 and logically registered more kills than the Patriots, 43-30.
-The Buckeyes' defense was key in the win as the home team outdug Mason 26-18.
-Popov and Ekstein each had a solo block to their name as the teams split the bragging rights in that component, 6-6.
-Mason demonstrated drastic improvement in serving since last weekend as the Patriots committed fewer errors, 14-13, while also doubling Ohio State's number of aces, 6-3.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
"I thought we did some good things tonight, but Ohio State was running strings of points at times, and we didn't have an answer like we should have. Baby steps are being made, but I thought we could do more tonight." - Mason's head coach Jay Hosack
NEXT ON THE COURT
Mason will close its road trip at Charleston (W.V.) on Saturday for its Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association opener. First serve will again be at 7 p.m.
