WHO: Men's Volleyball at King
WHERE: Student Center Complex, Bristol, Tenn.
FINAL SCORE: Mason 3, King 0
KEY PLAYERS: Jack Wilson – 20 kills (match-high); Christian Malias – 13 kills, 8 digs, 2 serve aces; Johnny Gomez – 11 digs (match-high)

Bristol, Tenn. – George Mason University's men's volleyball team had to claw to the win in the opening set, but got going later on to sweep King on the road in the teams' first meeting in history and to extend its winning streak to three matches.

MATCH NOTES

-Redshirt junior outside hitter Jack Wilson once again was stellar in attack for Mason, recording a match-high 20 kills. Junior outside hitter Christian Malias also contributed double digits with 13 kills, as well as both of Mason's aces on the night. Malias and classmate outside hitter Radoslav Popov finished with 8 digs apiece, second only to junior libero Johnny Gomez, who accumulated match-best 11 digs.

-Outside hitter Jeff Sprayberry took 42 attack attempts for King – more than the next three players combines – and put away 16 of them to lead his team on the night. Nick Drooker was the Tornado's leading defender with 5 digs in the match.

-Contrary to expectations, King enjoyed a better start to the match and pulled away by three at 7-4 with a kill by Jon Wheaton. Solid serving from sophomore setter Brian Negron, however, sparked a 4-0 run by the Patriots, who took their first lead at 8-7. Although Mason would stay in front for a good portion of the set, head coach Jay Hosack's men could not pull away and led by two only twice – with a Malias ace for 13-11 and his kill 18-16 later on. Mason was in trouble later on when the Tornado went on a crucial 6-3 run to take a 24-22 lead in the final stages of the opening set, but consecutive kills by Wilson neutralized King's two set points. The Midlothian, Va. native added another kill soon after to give the Patritos their second set point at 26-25 before a bad set error by Drooker closed the opening set in favor of Mason.

-The beginning of the second set was well-contested and the two teams had the lead at one point before a 5-1 Mason run created some cushion for the Patriots and forced a King timeout when a kill by redshirt freshman middle blocker Garrett Kollar made the scoreline read 16-11 Mason. The lead reached as many as nine on two occasions with kills by Malias and redshirt senior middle blocker Dom Edgley as the Patriots cruised to win the second set with the same margin, 25-16.

-Mason enjoyed an explosive start of the third set on Popov's serving sequence and won the opening six points, including back-to-back-to-back kills from Wilson. As the set progressed, it was littered with errors by both teams, from which King benefited to cut the Patriots' lead to two at 12-10 and 13-11. Mason then went on to win four of the following five points and regain the momentum with a five-point lead, 17-12. After that point the lead varied between three and five points, but the Patriots never raised a doubt in their sweep. An error by Spayberry put the icing on the cake for the Patriots, who won their third-straight match with a 25-19 success in the final set.

STAT BREAKDOWN

-As a team, Mason hit .355 against King, more than twice better than the Tornado's .163 performance. The Patriots recorded 51 kills in the contest, while King managed 30.

-The Patriots outdug King by a smaller, yet dominant margin – 36-21.

-Although King committed only six serve errors, as opposed to Mason's nine, the Tornado managed only one ace against the Patriots.

-The battle at the net finished with a narrowest of margin, but also went Mason's way, 9-8.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

"I liked that we found a way to win. I want us to execute the small things more often, because when we do it right, we are good." - Mason's head coach Jay Hosack 

NEXT ON THE COURT

Mason will face one more Conference Carolinas member before it returns home. The Patriots will return Pfeiffer the visit after defeating the Falcons at home in early February. First serve at Merner Gymnasium on Saturday is 7 p.m.