Box Score WHO: Men's Volleyball vs NJIT
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
FINAL SCORE: Mason 3, NJIT 0
KEY PLAYERS: Paco Velez – 11 kills, 5 block assists, 1 ace; Garrett Kollar – 7 kills, .667 hitting, 6 block assists (career-high); Dom Edgley – 5 kills, .571 hitting, 5 block assists; Johnny Gomez – 10 digs (match-high)
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1st
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2nd
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3rd
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Total
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NJIT (8-15, 7-5 EIVA)
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22
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17
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15
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0
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George Mason (13-11, 7-4 EIVA)
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25
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25
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25
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3
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Fairfax, Va. – Through exceptional blocking, George Mason University's men's volleyball limited EIVA's top attacker Jabarry Goodridge to .103 hitting to sweep his NJIT team on Thursday and overtake the Highlanders in the third place in the conference standings.
MATCH NOTES
-Redshirt senior opposite hitter Paco Velez extended his double-digit kill streak to four matches by recording 11 kills, but was the only Mason player to do so on the night, highlighting the team nature of the win. Velez was one of five Patriots who had at least five kills on the night – redshirt freshman middle blocker Garrett Kollar contributed 7 on a .667 hitting performance, just as many as junior outside hitter Christian Malias. Junior outside hitter Radoslav added 6 while redshirt senior middle blocker Dom Edgley had 5 while hitting .571. The other double-digit performance came on the defensive end, where junior libero Johnny Gomez continued to shine with a match-high 10 digs.
-Goodridge managed 11 kills on 29 attempts, but was blocked four times by Mason's big men at the net. TJ Jurko was setter Cameron Tait's other frequent option and also reached double digits with 10 kills, but was even more inefficient than Goodridge, hitting .074 for the Highlanders. Shannon Heckman led NJIT with 6 digs.
-Jurko gave NJIT an early 2-1 lead in the first set with a kill, but Mason won six of the following eight points to pull away by three at 7-4. Three errors by Mason allowed the Highlanders to come on level terms at 7 all, but a kill by Kollar and consecutive blocks on Luke Robbe and Jurko recovered the Patriots' lead at 10-7. After playing part in another block on Jurko for Mason's first five-point lead at 13-8, Edgley was later on the other end of a set by sophomore Brian Negron to pick up a kill for 14-9. Jurko responded with a kill and Goodridge and Raphael Anthony blocked Velez to inspire a 4-1 run by NJIT which got the Highlanders within two in mid-set, 15-13. The teams exchanged points for the following few minutes and Mason's head coach Jay Hosack called a timeout when another error cut his team's lead to two once again at 19-17. Mason came out swinging and a kill by Popov made it 20-17, but a service error by the Patriots and a kill by Goodridge got the Highlanders as close as they have been at 20-19. Mason responded with consecutive points as well and retained the momentum to close the set at 25-22 with a block-out by Popov.
-The teams exchanged service errors at the start of the second set to set the tone for an error-filled start to the period. After both teams wasted two-point leads early on, Mason was first to lead by three at 9-6 on an error by Jurko. NJIT came within one at 11-10 on Anthony's solo block, but the Patriots went on a 4-1 run to grab the first four-point lead of the set and force the Highlanders into a timeout, 15-11. The lead only kept growing with kills from Velez at 18-13 and Popov for 20-14. The block remained solid and blocked Jurko and Goodridge once additional time each before the Patriots cruised to a 2-0 lead in the match with 25-17 in the second set.
-Mason got off to a 3-0 start in the third set, but kills by Raymond Kowalski and Goodridge made it 3-2 shortly after. That was the last time NJIT was within a point from Mason because the Patriots responded with a 7-3 run, culminated with a block by Kollar and Velez for a 10-5 lead. A kill by Velez forced an NJIT timeout at 16-9 was one of the three Patriots – along with Malias and Kollar – who smothered Jurko's attack later on to grab Mason's first double-digit lead at 23-13. Popov again played the role of a closer for Mason and wrapped up the Patriots' fourth-straight win with a kill at 25-15.
STAT BREAKDOWN
-Minimizing Goodridge was Mason's key to stopping NJIT's impressive attack and the Patriots held the Highlanders to .036 team hitting and 26 kills. Mason's balanced attack hit over .300 for fourth-straight match (.324) and recorded 37 kills on the night.
-Behind Gomez's double-digit performance, the Patriots outdug their opponent 28-20.
-Hosack's team committed 13 service errors, one more than NJIT, but the Patriots repaid their coach with perfect receiving, making the Highlanders the second opponent which could not record an ace against Mason this season. The first such achievement was on the road against the other New Jersey-based EIVA opponent, Princeton.
-Mason's dominant secret weapon in the contest, the block, bested the Highlanders 12-7.5.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
“I am continually proud of the way our boys are playing our system and brand of volleyball. NJIT is a good team and we came out a little sloppy in the first set, but then settled down and finished strong.” – Mason's head coach Jay Hosack
NEXT ON THE COURT
Mason will return to the court on Saturday night to host Princeton. In that contest, Hosack will face his junior national team assistant Sam Shweisky, who is the Tigers' head coach. First serve will again be at 7 p.m.
