MEN'S VOLLEYBALL (1-4, 1-0 EIVA) VS IPFW (2-4, 0-0 MIVA)
WHEN: 7 p.m. EST, Friday, Jan. 29, 2016
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
SERIES RECORD: IPFW leads 24-23
LIVE STATS: GoMason.com
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL (1-4, 1-0 EIVA) VS NO. 15 BALL STATE (3-3, 0-0 MIVA)
WHEN: 7 p.m. EST, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
SERIES RECORD: Ball State leads 34-28
LIVE STATS: GoMason.com
Fairfax, Va. – George Mason University's men's volleyball team will return home this weekend to host IPFW and Ball State at RAC Gym on Friday and Saturday nights.
Mason returns to action after a week off. The Patriots concluded their four-match road trip on a high note two weekends ago, when they defeated Charleston (W.V.) in straight sets in the conference opener for both teams. The success was first for first-season coach Jay Hosack at the helm of the program.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
With the contest against Mason and Saturday's trip to NJIT, IPFW will close its six-match non-conference series against EIVA opposition before beginning Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play. Two weekends ago, the Mastodons defeated Sacred Heart and fell to Harvard in three, respectfully, at home. Last week they traveled to Pennsylvania, where they registered additional defeats to St. Francis and Penn State to enter the match against the Patriots on a three-game skid. The Mastodons have a narrowest of lead over Mason in the all-time series, 21-20, that coming with the sweep over the Patriots in Fort Wayne, Ind. last February.
Redshirt senior Andrew Sellan is the Mastodons' main offensive threats with 87 kills on the season (4.83 kills per set), nearly double the second most effective scorer on the team – sophomore Tony Price (46 kills), despite Sellan playing two sets fewer than Price. Senior libero Luis Bertran, native of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico – the birthplace of Mason's opposite hitter Paco Velez, is a stalwart in first-season head coach Ryan Perrotte's lineup and has accumulated team-high 54 digs while playing in all 20 sets to date for the Mastodons. Price is second in digs with 32, while two IPFW players – Sellan and freshman setter Michael Keegan – follow with 24 apiece. Another freshman, Graydon Schroeder, and senior David Frazee lead the team with one block per set.
After defeating a then-ranked Ball State team on the road in straight sets on Feb. 7 last season, on Saturday Mason will welcome the Cardinals for the 63rd meeting between both teams. Ball State's last visit to Fairfax was exactly a year prior to the Patriots' success last year in Muncie, Ind., when Ball State came out as a winner. The Cardinals their six-match road trip last weekend, when they fell 3-0 and 3-2, respectively, to EIVA members Penn State and St. Francis.
Junior Brendan Surane leads the team with 67 kills and posts a team-high 3.35 kills per set. Defensively, the Cardinals are led by freshman libero Adam Wessel, who has accumulated 44 digs, while sophomore Mitch Weiler and senior Hiago Garchet also have more than 25 digs with 30 and 26, respectively. Junior Alex Pia is making an impact at the net for Ball State and is easily the team's best blocker with 28 blocks this season.
