PRINCETON, N.J. – A Princeton team propelled by George Huhmann's perfect offensive performance handed George Mason University's men's volleyball team its second loss in as many nights Saturday, 3-1.

This way Mason dropped both matches during its weekend in New Jersey and dropped to 2-3 in EIVA play and 5-7 overall. Princeton, on the other hand, won consecutive matches for the second time this season and improved to 3-1 in league play. The Tigers are under .500, however, as a result of the slow start to their season, 5-6.

MATCH NOTES

-Eleven Patriots saw action against the Tigers and only one of them managed to finish in double digits – redshirt senior opposite hitter Jack Wilson paced Mason with 16 kills, hitting .414, the best of all players with at least 10 attempts. Overall, redshirt senior middle blocker Graham Gresham was most effective offensively for the Patriots with seven kills off nine attacks (.667).
-Junior setter Brian Negron (23 assists) and sophomore Justin Coleman (18 assists) split the playing time on Saturday and combined for 41 of Mason's 46 assists on the night.
-Senior libero Johnny Gomez played the entire match for the Patriots and picked up a match-high seven digs while no one from Princeton had more than five.
-Huhmann, a freshman middle blocker, was undoubtedly the star of the night after getting kills on all of his 10 attempts. Parker Dixon led Princeton, who like NJIT played only seven players against Mason, with 13 kills on .346 hitting while Kendall Ratter also finished in double digits with 10 kills. Setter Jonah May ran the Tigers' offense all night and accumulated 40 assists in the process.
-Huhmann made a difference on the defensive end as well by contributing match-high nine blocks, including four of the five solo blocks in the match. Wilson picked up a solo block for Mason but the Patriots were outblocked convincingly, 12-6.5.

HOW IT HAPPENED
-Princeton led by as many as three in the first half of the opening set when a kill from Ratter made it 11-8, but two kills from freshman outside hitter Hayden Wagner (5 kills), one from sophomore outside hitter Kyle Barnes (6 kills, 5 digs), and an error by the Tigers' Greg Luck (4 kills, 3 digs, 3 blocks) quickly tied up the set at 12-12. Mason was on level terms with Princeton four more times until the end of the set – three of them as a result of Tiger errors – but the home team ended the set on a 9-2 run to take the lead in the match.

-Kills by Barnes, Coleman, and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Langston Payne (3 kills) gave Mason three early leads in the second set, but it was against Princeton that went into double digits first with an ace by May, 10-8. Mason's head coach Jay Hosack called his first timeout as a result, but two additional points by Princeton increased the lead to four, 12-8. The Tigers' advantage grew to seven at 18-11 on a kill from Junior Oboh (7 kills, .500, 3 blocks). The Patriots won back-to-back points only once until the remainder of the set and Princeton closed the set with strong sideout play, 25-17.

-Two blocks by Huhmann and Luck helped Princeton jump off to their largest early-set lead at 5-2 in the third set. The Tigers were in control until the teams reached double digits, but a 3-0 lead put Mason in the lead, 11-10. Kills by freshman outside hitter Sam Greenslade (6 kills, 2 digs, 2 blocks) in succession gave the Patriots their first two-point lead of the night at 13-11 and forced Princeton's first timeout of the match. When play resumed, back-to-back errors from Mason got the Tigers back on level terms, but Mason stood their ground and retained control of the set. With the teams tied at 19 all later on, the Patriots went on a 3-0 run thanks to a kill from Wilson and a service ace by freshman middle blocker Bryce Gatling (2 kills, 2 blocks), which gave the team enough momentum to earn a double set point at 24-22 as Gresham and Negron stuffed Luck. It was not meant to happen the easy way with the Tigers canceling both of those and a third set point at 25-24, but Mason's block came up big when it mattered and the Patriots finally won the set with back-to-back blocks against Ratter, 27-25.
-Mason never led in the fourth set but it was nevertheless a competitive one with ten tied scores in it. Two kills by Huhmann and an ace by Ratter sparked a 4-1 run for Princeton which was the first indication of who would win the set, 19-16. Hosack called his last timeout as a result and although three points later Mason trailed by four, the Patriots went on a 5-2 run which allowed them to come within one on a kill by Wilson, 23-22. Soon after Wilson, Greenslade, and Gatling orchestrated a triple block on Ratter to cancel Princeton's first match point, but on the following play May and Parker linked up for the Tigers' match-winning point, 25-23.

NEXT ON THE COURT

The Patriots return home for the first time in five weeks next weekend as they welcome archrival #13 Penn State and Saint Francis (Pa.) on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Both matches start at 7 p.m.