WHO: Men's Volleyball vs Harvard
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
FINAL SCORE: Harvard 3, George Mason 1
KEY PLAYERS: Jack Wilson – 15 kills (match-high); Paco Velez – 11 kills, 10 digs; Johnny Gomez – 19 digs (career-high), 8 assists

Fairfax, Va. – George Mason University's men's volleyball team rallied after losing the first two sets, but could not prevent Harvard from taking the second match of the weekend double-header against the Crimson in four sets on Saturday afternoon.

MATCH NOTES

-Junior libero had another outstanding defensive performance and recorded a career-high 19 digs in his efforts to inspire a Mason comeback. Redshirt junior Jack Wilson had a match-high 15 kills on a .344 hitting performance, the best by a Mason pin hitter. Freshman setter Justin Coleman came off the bench and recorded 32 assists, only one short of Harvard's setter Marko Kostich, who played a set more than Coleman.

-For a second night in a row, the Crimson was led in attack by Branden Clemens, who had 11 kills. The senior was most productive in defense as well, registering 11 digs as well. Kostich also finished in double digits with 10 digs.

-Redshirt senior middle blocker Dom Edgley gave Mason a 4-3 lead early in the match but Harvard responded with a 7-2 run to take a 10-6 lead. The Patriots fought back and got back within one on several occasions courtesy of Harvard errors, but the Crimson stayed aggressive in attack and later grabbed a 20-15 lead on an ace by Brad Gretsch. Toward the end of the set, the momentum was entirely on Harvard's side of the net and the Crimson closed the first set at 25-18 on another ace, this time by Kostich.

-Mason started the second set well and a kill by Wilson gave Mason a 2-0 lead, but Harvard went on an impressive 10-2 run to go into the double digits with a six-point advantage. The run set the tone for the remainder of the set and the Crimson grabbed their first double-digit lead at 19-9, shortly before they won the set by the same margin, 25-15.

-Following the rare 10-minute intermission during which alumni of the program were recognized on the court, the Patriots played more freely and never gave up the lead after a strong start. A kill by Wilson for 11-5 forced Harvard's first timeout in the contest. Wilson remained Mason's hot hand and racked up five additional kills as the Patriots continued to cruise, including the one that give his team its first double-digit lead at 24-14. Without much fuss, Mason closed the set at 25-15 with a kill by redshirt freshman middle blocker Garrett Kollar, one of his eight in the match.

-The closely contested beginning of the fourth set very much resembled Friday's match between the teams. With the help of three consecutive Harvard errors, however, Mason was the first to pull out by as many as three at 12-9 as the Crimson called a timeout. The Patriots retained their highest lead with an ace by Edgley for 17-14, but Harvard rallied and tied the score at 18. At first Mason refused to give up the lead, but when a kill by Gretsch put the Crimson ahead 21-20, the Patriots' head coach Jay Hosack gathered his team in a huddle. An ace by Clemens and a Mason error put Harvard within two points of the win at 23-20, but the Patriots fought to get back within one at 24-23 to force a Harvard timeout before the Crimson finally settled the contest with a Riley Moore kill for 25-23.

STAT BREAKDOWN

-Just like last night, Mason had more kills than its opponent, 45-37, but the Crimson once again demonstrated higher efficiency in attack, hitting .221 as a team, slightly better than the Patriots' .196.

-Harvard was one of the first teams this season to register more aces than Mason in a match, 5-3, while again committing fewer errors than the Patriots from behind the line, 21-14.

-There was nothing to separate the two teams in digs – 37-37 – and blocks – 7-7.

NEXT ON THE COURT

After eight consecutive home matches, the Patriots hit the road next weekend for EIVA contests against Saint Francis and Penn State.