No. 11 MASON (3-1, 1-0 EIVA) vs King (2-0, 0-0 CC)
WHEN: 7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 20, 2017
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
LIVE STATS: SideArm Stats
LIVE VIDEO: Patriot Vision ($)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads series 2-0
HONORARY FIRST SERVE: Robert Crites
 
No. 11 MASON (3-1, 1-0 EIVA) vs No. 9 Loyola-Chicago (3-2, 0-0 MIVA)
GAME OF THE WEEK:
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WHEN: 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
LIVE STATS: SideArm Stats
LIVE VIDEO: Patriot Vision ($)
SERIES RECORD: Loyola-Chicago leads series 14-4
HONORARY FIRST SERVE: James Claney ('04) FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University's men's volleyball team will play in front of home crowd for the first time since being crowned 2016 EIVA champion this weekend, when it welcomes King University (Tenn.) and No. 9 Loyola University Chicago.

For the first time in history, it will not be a player who serves first in the RAC Gym to begin the home portion of a Mason men's volleyball season. That honor will go to long-time program donor Robert Crites, whose serve will begin the Patriots' First Serve campaign.

During the weekend Mason will attempt to continue its strong start to the season, with the current 3-1 record being the program's best after four matches since 2011. Motivation will be even higher on Saturday, because the match against the Ramblers will be preceded by a banner unveiling ceremony during which players and coaches who took part of last season's historical feat will receive recognition on their home court for the first time. Over the course of the match, which will begin with a first serve by former Patriot James Claney, the Patriots will seek their first victory over a ranked opponent this season.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

King will bring some momentum of its own into Friday's contest as it looks to improve on its first-ever 2-0 start to a campaign. The Tornado opened the season at home with a sweep over Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 10 and fought hard to repeat the feat against Mason's EIVA opponent Charleston (W.Va.) three days later.

The Tornado's sophomore Jon Wheaton was named Conference Carolinas Player of the Week after hitting .400 over the course of the two matches last week for 14 kills. Wheaton impressed on the defensive end as well and already has nine blocks to his name (1.50 per set) this campaign. Overall, junior Jeff Sprayberry leads King in attack with 3.67 kills per set while his classmate Nick Drooker has team-best 2.17 digs per set in defense. The team's starting setter so far this season, Drooker also averages 10.33 assists per set.

Loyola will have a day of extra rest before facing the Patriots because the Ramblers' week will start on Thursday night when they face No. 15 Penn State in its first road match of the season. Loyola has already faced two EIVA members in the Gentile Arena, sweeping NJIT on Jan. 5 and doing the same with Harvard last Saturday. The night before its match against the Crimson, Loyola dropped a five-set thriller against then-No. 5 Pepperdine for its second loss of the season. This will be the Ramblers' last weekend of exclusively non-conference action before the 2015 national champion begins MIVA play in the beginning of next month.

So far this season the Ramblers have demonstrated an abundance of offensive threats as five of their players having eclipsed 30 kills already. Sophomore duo Collin Mahan (45) and Paul Narup (41) lead the team in kills. There is efficiency within those numbers as well with six Ramblers hitting .300 or better, led by Narup's impressive .530 average. Narup and fellow middle blocker Jeff Jendryk (39 kills, .465 hitting) have been productive on the defensive side of the net as well, averaging team-best 1.00 blocks per set. The two have combined for all of Loyola's five solo blocks in 2017, four of which came from Jendryk. Freshman Ian Cowen leads the ground defense stats with 33 digs, but eight of his teammates are also in double digits.