MEN'S VOLLEYBALL (12-11, 6-4 EIVA) VS NJIT (8-14, 7-3 EIVA)
WHEN: 7 p.m., Thursday, April 7, 2016
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads 49-3
LIVE STATS: GoMason.com
LIVE VIDEO: Patriot Vision ($)
Fairfax, Va. – After a successful weekend, George Mason University's men's volleyball team will return home on Thursday night to continue its postseason push against NJIT at the RAC.
Mason got back into the race to the top four with two impressive wins at Sacred Heart last Friday and Saturday nights. The Patriots lost the opening set of the doubleheader but dominated from there on take the next six sets for the 3-1 and 3-0 wins.
Redshirt senior captain Paco Velez was above all in attack and recorded 34 kills while hitting .370 over the weekend to earn his second EIVA Offensive Player of the Week honor this season. The opposite hitter added 11 digs to his 22-kill performance on Friday for his second double-double of 2016.
The success would not be possible without junior libero Johnny Gomez's defensive contribution. The Indialantic, Fla. native had 29 digs over the two nights and now leads EIVA with 2.82 digs per set.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
NJIT has been nothing short of impressive in conference play this season as the Highlanders aim for their first EIVA tournament appearance since 2008. Prior to losing in straight sets to No. 11 Penn State at home on Saturday, Danny Goncalves' team was on a five-match EIVA win streak, which started after the dramatic, five-set defeat to Mason on March 4.
Junior Jabarry Goodridge, who has two weekly EIVA offensive honors to his name this season, leads NJIT in attack with 339 kills and 4.58 kills per set, topping EIVA in both categories. His classmate middle blocker Luke Robbe is the Highlanders' most efficient attacker, hitting a team-best .415 through the middle for 129 kills. Freshman libero Chris Wise is the Highlanders' best defender with 137 digs this season. NJIT is the second most dangerous team from serve, accumulating 109 aces, three more than the third team in that category, Mason. The Highlanders also rank third in blocking with 176, three short from Harvard, who ranks second.
