WHO: Men's Volleyball vs Charleston (W.V.)
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
FINAL SCORE: Mason 3, UCWV 0
KEY PLAYERS: Graham Gresham – 10 kills, .909 hitting; Paco Velez – 12 kills; Kyle Barnes – 11 digs (career-high)

Fairfax, Va. – Graham Gresham showed no rust in his return from a long-term injury and was near perfect in attack on Friday, helping George Mason University's men's volleyball team to a second sweep over Charleston (W.V.) this season.

MATCH NOTES

-Redshirt senior opposite hitter Paco Velez led Mason in attack with 12 kills and two of the Patriots' three aces in the contest, but Gresham was the story of the game. The redshirt junior middle blocker was introduced at the start of the second set and racked up 10 kills on 11 attack attempts without committing any errors during his time on the court. Freshman outside hitter Kyle Barnes was phenomenal on the defensive end and entered double digits for the first time in his young career to lead all players with 11 digs.

-Eugene Stuart led Charleston (W.V.) with 9 kills, one more than what he got in the first match against the Patriots back in January. Krzysztof Zieba was flawless in attack for the Golden Eagles, recording five kills on a .625 hitting performance. The libero Indy Nenn had a team-high five digs in the contest.

-Mason led by three points at 9-6 in the first set, but a kill by Jacob Horwedel and consecutive attack errors by the Patriots tied the score. Fortunately, Mason responded immediately with a 5-0 run which featured a kill by junior outside hitter Radoslav Popov, an ace by Velez and three unsuccessful attack attempts by the Golden Eagles. Charleston came within four on several occasions, but that motivated Jay Hosack's team and Mason's lead increased to six for the first time at 22-16 via the team's only solo block of the night, courtesy of Popov. Coming out of the timeout that followed, kills by redshirt freshman middle blocker Garrett Kollar earned two of three straight points for Mason, which closed the opening set at 25-16.

-Gresham introduced himself to the contest with two quick kills early in the second set, the latter of which sparked a 3-0 Mason run and allowed the Patriots to pull away for the first time after an even beginning to the set, 8-5. Strong minutes by Stuart and a few errors in Mason's attack allowed Charleston to come within one point on several occasions in mid-set, but then Popov followed up on Rajahl Moxey's service error with a brilliantly timed service ace to restore the Patriots' three-point lead, 17-14. Although the second set was statistically the worst in the match for Mason's attack - .348 team hitting, numerous errors by Charleston prevented the Golden Eagles to get within fewer than two again and, on the other hand, helped the Patriots comfortably see out the set at 25-20 and double their lead in the match.

-With the help of five additional kills from Gresham, the Patriots eventually took control of the third set and accumulated a four-point lead, 13-9. When consecutive errors by his players somewhat killed some of the team's momentum, Hosack called his first and last timeout of the contest at 13-11 in his team's favor. The speech in the huddle could not be better timed and Mason won four of the next five points to increase its lead to five at 17-12. Sophomore setter Brian Negron continued linking up well with his attackers and Mason went on to hit .533 as a team in the third set, which they won 25-17 on another kill by Gresham to improve to 4-4 in EIVA play.

STAT BREAKDOWN

-Mason hit better than .400 as a team for the fourth time this season, turning 45 of its 74 attack attempts into kills (.432). Despite Zieba's good performance, three Golden Eagles hit negative to bring the team's attack average in the contest to .098.

-Despite committing more service errors than Charleston, 10-7, Mason's aggressive serve paid off with three service aces, as opposed to only one by the Golden Eagles.

-In a contest in which both teams had only solo block apiece, the Patriots outblocked their opponent 4-2.

-Mason was dominant on the defensive end as well, outdigging Charleston (W.V.) 30-16.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

“Being injured is always a tough process because you feel out of sync with the team. I'm excited to be back and glad I could contribute to the win tonight. However, I have to credit the guys with giving me the opportunities to put balls away.” – Mason's middle blocker Graham Gresham

NEXT ON THE COURT

The Patriots will return on the road next week for an important EIVA doubleheader against Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Conn. on Friday and Saturday.