WHO: Men's Volleyball vs IPFW
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
FINAL SCORE: IPFW 3, Mason 0
KEY PLAYERS: Jack Wilson – 20 kills; Johnny Gomez – 10 digs (match-high)

Fairfax, Va. – George Mason University men's volleyball improved as the match progressed, but could not take a set from IPFW in the RAC on Friday night despite coming within a point in the final set.

MATCH NOTES

-Redshirt junior outside hitter Jack Wilson had a huge match for Mason and finished with 20 kills, tied for most in the match and most kills by a Patriot so far this season. Defensively, junior Johnny Gomez recorded match-high 10 digs for the Patriots, including key digs late in the second and third sets to keep Mason in the match.

-IPFW's Andrew Sellan continued his strong start to the season and had 20 kills as well, like Wilson being the only on his team with double digits. Libero Luis Bertran and setter Michael Keegan stood out for the Mastodons in defense, each recording 9 digs.

-Mason recovered from a slow start of the first set and came back within one at 5-4 after IPFW had won the first three points of the first set. The Mastodons then made the first significant run on the contest, 7-1, to take a 12-5 lead and force the Patriots into a timeout.

-A kill by IPFW's David Frazee increased the lead to eight at 15-8, but the Patriots managed to go on a 6-1 run with the help of strong serving from redshirt senior middle blocker Dom Edgley and effective attacking plays from junior outside hitter Christian Malias and redshirt freshman middle blocker Garrett Kollar, cutting their deficit to two at 16-14.

-IPFW provided an immediate response by winning five of the following six points. Despite Mason's head coach Jay Hosack calling his second timeout, there was not further switch of momentum and the Mastodons won the opening set 25-18.

-Fighting off another three-point deficit early in the second set, Mason tied the score for the first time at 8-8 with a kill by Wilson. Shortly after, the Patriots capitalized on an attack error by Sellan for their first lead in the contest before getting two more with kills by Wilson and Malias.

-The Mastodons won six-straight moments from that moment on to gain the largest lead by either team in the second set at 17-12. Mason trailed by three in the closing stages, 22-19, but the Patriots fought back and came back on level terms in most emphatic fashion, with a service ace for 22 all. Although a kill by Tony Price gave IPFW two set points at 24-22, consecutive errors by the sophomore tied the score once again at 24. In the end, the Mastodons showed stronger nerves and were first to win consecutive points and with that the set, 26-24.

-Errors by IPFW gave Mason three two-point leads – the Patriots' highest in the match – at the start of the third set, the last one at 8-6. The Mastodons then won consecutive points for the first time in the set to tie the score. Neither team could pull away until 12-12, when IPFW took four-straight points for a 16-12 lead.

-The Patriots did not lose their composure and slowly closed in on the Mastodons, ultimately tying the score at 22 with another one of Sellan's six attack errors in the match. Mason's determination earned Hosack's team a set point at 24-23 with a kill by Wilson and forced a timeout by IPFW.

-The Mastodons won two consecutive points when the teams returned to the court to get their first match point, but Kollar marked the 12^th tied score in the set at 25-25 with an absolute bullet of a kill through the middle. Wilson then prevented another match point from IPFW with a kill, but third time was the charm for the Mastodons, who closed the set at 28-26 for their third win of the season.

STAT BREAKDOWN

-Mason registered 36 kills in the match on a .168 team-hitting performance, five short of IPFW's 41, which came off 96 attack attempts by the Mastodons (.240)

-The two teams committed 11 serve errors apiece, but IPFW's risk from behind the line resulted in six aces, as opposed to Mason's one.

-IPFW won the digging battle against the Patriots, 31-27.

-Edgley put in his regular solo block, but over the course of the match the Mastodons outblocked Mason 10-3.

NEXT ON THE COURT

Mason will continue a busy weekend tomorrow night, when the Patriots host No. 15 Ball State at 7 p.m. in the RAC Gym.