FAIRFAX, Va. - Jay Hosack, the head coach of George Mason University's men's volleyball team, announced on Tuesday the Patriots' 2017 season schedule.

Mason, the 2016 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association champion, will begin their season in the Carolinas before making a trip north to Indiana and going as far west as California to participate in the Active Ankle Classic in March.

The season will begin in the very first week of the new year when Conference Carolinas members Belmont Abbey and Limestone welcome the Patriots on Jan. 6 and Jan. 7, respectively. During the same trip, Mason will make its regular trip to Columbus, Ohio on Jan. 10 for a rematch against national champion Ohio State. It was the Buckeyes who knocked off the Patriots in the play-in match of the National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship in May. Two days later, Hosack and his men will begin their EIVA title defense at Charleston (W.V.), where they won in straight sets last season.

Students and local fans will then have their first look at the team during the weekend of Jan. 20 and Jan. 21, when Mason welcomes King and Loyola Chicago in the RAC before heading on a six-match road trip. The first portion of non-conference play will end with a trip north for matchups with Ball State on Jan. 26 and agains IPFW on Jan. 27. After a two-week break, the team will dive into EIVA play with a doubleheader at Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. (Feb. 11-12) and visits to the two New Jersey members of the conference, NJIT (Feb. 17) and Princeton (Feb. 18).

Once Mason returns home, it will stay around for consecutive weekends starting with the always-crucial EIVA battles against archrival Penn State (Feb. 24) and 2016 EIVA finalist Saint Francis (Pa.) and will then reopen non-conference schedule against McKendree (March 3) and Coker (March 4). For their spring break the Patriots will head out to sunny California, where they will participate in the Active Ankle Classic for the first time since 2013. Mason will open the tournament against host Long Beach State on March 10 and will face the 49ers' Mountain Pacific Sport Federation rival Cal State Northridge the day after. The Patriots' final contest on the West Coast will be at USC on Monday, March 13, in Los Angeles.

Hosack's team will wrap up non-conference against Barton at home on March 24, followed by an EIVA match against Charleston (W.V.). After playing an away doubleheader at Sacred Heart last season, this time around Mason will send March away and welcome April at the RAC against the Pioneers on March 31 and April 1. The Patriots will stay at home for a third-straight weekend as they welcome NJIT on April 7 and Princeton on April 8. The match against the Tigers will be Senior Night for Mason, a potential send-away for seniors Graham Gresham, Jack Wilson, Johnny Gomez, Christian Malias, and Radoslav Popov.

In the last weekend of regular season, Mason travels north for decisive battles against Saint Francis (Pa.) and Penn State on April 14 and April 15, respectively. The 2017 EIVA Championship, which will be hosted by the top team in conference play, will take place April 20-22.

To view the full men's volleyball schedule, click here.