WHO: Men's Volleyball vs NJIT
WHERE: Fleisher Center, Newark, N.J.
FINAL SCORE: Mason 3, NJIT 2
KEY PLAYERS: Brian Negron – 57 assists (career-high), 10 digs (career-high); Jack Wilson – 27 kills (match-high); Garrett Kollar – 10 kills (career-high)

Newark, N.J. – It did not come easily and took all that Jay Hosack's men had in store physically and mentally, but George Mason University's men's volleyball team ended its four-match skid by defeating NJIT on the road in EIVA action on Friday night, despite surrendering a two-set lead at one point.

MATCH NOTES

-Several Patriots broke statistical records on Mason's way to the important win, which left the team firmly in the race for post-season play. Sophomore setter Brian Negron kept his cool and ran his offense really well, registering a career-high 57 assists. The San Juan, Puerto Rico native did his share of work on the defensive end as well and tied his career-best performance from last season with 10 digs, most by any Patriot on the night. Redshirt junior outside hitter was on fire and finished with 27 kills, two short of his career-best, redshirt freshman middle blocker Garrett Kollar terrorized NJIT's defenders with quick swings through the middle which resulted in his career-high 10 kills, while junior outside hitters Radoslav Popov and Christian Malias left their mark on the match once again with 12 and 10 kills, respectively.

-Mason could do little to stop the Highlanders' red-hot outside hitter and the EIVA Offensive Player of the Week Jabarry Goodridge, who had another statement performance with 27 kills, while TJ Jurko followed with 12. The latter also contributed 5 aces and 12 digs, becoming one of the two Highlanders to finish with double digits defensively as a result of Mason's 143 attack attempts. Libero Chris Wise led all players on either side of the court with 14 digs.

-After Kollar gave Mason the lead with a kill for the first point of the contest, NJIT mobilized and built a comfortable lead for itself in the first set, 10-5. Back-to-back aces from redshirt senior Dom Edgley helped Mason get within one right away, while a kill by Malias, followed by his ace, gave the Patriots the lead soon after and forced an NJIT timeout at 13-12. The lead reached three at 18-15 on another ace, that one by Popov, but the Highlanders fought back to tie it with three-straight points. Another successful attack by Malias and a rare error by Goodridge gave Mason a two-point lead at 21-19 late on, enough of a margin for the Patriots to feel some pressure lifted off their shoulders and close the opening set at 25-22.

-Despite the closely contested start to the second set, Mason dug itself a hole with consecutive errors to give NJIT an 8-5 lead early on. The Highlanders used the momentum to increase their lead to as many as four points on four occasions, lastly at 14-10 with another Patriot error. Edgley's third ace of the evening brought Mason back within one at 16-15, but then NJIT capitalized on two errors to restore its three-point lead right away. An ace by Jurko put his team ahead 21-19 as the set went into the final stages, but two kills by Popov helped Mason to a late 3-0 run that marked a huge swing of momentum. Wilson finished the Highlanders off with three kills toward the end of the set to put Mason two sets to the good with the final 25-23.

-Neither team led by more than one in the third set until both teams entered double digits, when a kill by Brad Thele gave NJIT a two-point lead, 14-12. The Highlanders seemed like the more motivated team in the following minutes and Goodridge capitalized on another good pass from setter Cameron Tait to double his team's advantage at 17-13. With the help of a timeout, the Patriots came out of the slump and went on a 6-1 run to take a 19-18 lead and show that they were still pursuing a sweep. The only more impressive thing in the third set was NJIT's 7-1 run that featured two aces by Jurko and two kills by Goodridge to provide the perfect response to Mason's run and close the set at 25-20 to extend the Highlanders' night.

-The shock from the outcome of the third set prevented Mason to get going offensively early in the fourth while Goodridge and Jurko were at their best to put NJIT up by four at 13-9 and force a Mason timeout. The lead extended to six soon after but the Patriots went on a crucial 7-1 run sparked by Wilson's serving to tie the score at 17 and prevent NJIT from running away with the set. The streaky play by both teams continued and NJIT led by as many as four at 22-18, only to see their advantage dissolved at 23 all by an ace courtesy of Mason's freshman outside hitter Kyle Barnes. Raphael Anthony gave the Highlanders their first set point on the following play, but it was neutralized with a kill by Popov for 24-24. Goodridge counteracted his own kill with an error for 25-25, and while the Highlanders' attacker could not close out the set, this was done by Tait and Luke Robbe's block, which tamed Popov's attack attempt to give NJIT the fourth set 27-25 and send the contest into a tie-breaker.

-A kill by Kollar and an attack error by NJIT allowed for a promising 2-0 start for Mason in the fifth set. Although the Patriots did well to retain their lead for the following minutes, the Highlanders tied the score at 5-5. After several unsuccessful attempts by each team to pull ahead by two points, the teams entered double digits all square at 10. In the final minutes the two teams were tested by their own mental psyches as they were by their opponents. After four additional tied scores, Wilson put Mason ahead 15-14 with a kill before the pressure got to Robbe and he committed the error that granted the Patriots a precious victory away from home, 16-14.

STAT BREAKDOWN

-Despite the loss, NJIT demonstrated higher efficiency in attack and hit .302 as a team to record 57 kills in the contest. Mason's 66 kills were accompanied with 28 errors for a .266 team hitting performance.

-The Patriots were outdug by the Highlanders, 44-40.

-Mason demonstrated its arsenal of firepower, grabbing 11 aces through six person, while only two NJIT players other than Jurko scored from behind the service line to accumulate the team's 8 aces.

-Goodridge and three other Highlanders had a solo block to their name as NJIT won the battle of the net 11-6.

POST-MATCH QUOTES

“Tonight we learned to be resilient against a team with good momentum. I am proud of how we gutted out that win when the chips were not in our favor.” – Mason's head coach Jay Hosack

NEXT ON THE COURT

The Patriots will close their New Jersey weekend with a match at Princeton at 7 p.m. on Saturday.