FAIRFAX, Va. – A near-full-capacity crowd of 1,357 at the RAC Gym could not propel George Mason University's men's volleyball team to a historic consecutive win against No. 15 Penn State on Friday night, as Mason fell 3-1 to the Nittany Lions.

Mason (5-8) extended its current negative streak to three matches, taking a set in each of them. The Patriots have lost for of its first six EIVA matches, which is slightly better than the 1-4 conference play start from a year ago. Meanwhile Penn State, which already tied an anti-record for most conference losses since 1992, improved to 5-2 in EIVA play and 10-6 overall.

MATCH NOTES

-Mason distributed the offensive numbers evenly with four Patriots finishing the night with at least eight kills – redshirt sophomore middle blocker Langston Payne (9 kills, .692 hitting, 3 blocks), sophomore outside hitter Kyle Barnes (8 kills, .263 hitting, 1 service ace), freshman outside hitter Sam Greenslade (8 kills, 3 blocks), and redshirt senior opposite hitter Jack Wilson (8 kills, 2 blocks). Penn State's defense could not tame Payne all night long and he finished the match without a single attacking error.
-Greenslade was the only non-starter among the top scorers for Mason. He entered the match early on as a result of senior outside hitter Radoslav Popov's injury.
-Aidan Albrecht (18 kills, .520 hitting, 4 digs) was the main kill provider for Penn State and in the match altogether. Jalen Penrose (11 kills, .714 hitting) started the match on the bench but caused enough damage to the Patriots to earn a starting spot in the third and fourth sets. The two were the driving forces behind the Nittany Lions' .376 team hitting performance. Mason, on the other hand, hit .165 as a team.
-The teams split the bragging rights in defense as Mason outblocked its opponent 8.5-6.5 whiile Penn State picked up more digs, 23-16. Greenslade and redshirt senior middle blocker Graham Gresham were credited with a solo blocks apiece for the Patriots. Senior libero Johnny Gomez and junior setter Brian Negron shared team-best digging performances with five digs each.  
-Penn State's setter Luke Braswell had match-high performances with 41 assists and two service aces.
-The team that won each set was in control of it for the most part. Of the five lead changes in the match, the one that came at the latest point of any particular set came at 10-9 Penn State in the fourth set.

HOW IT HAPPENED

-Immediately after Mason lost Popov at 8-9 in the opening set, Penn State went on a 4-1 lead that increased the lead to four at 13-9. A kill by Wilson and an attack error by Albrecht cut that lead in half for Mason, but was followed by three-straight Nittany Lion points, 16-11. Mason's deficit increased to seven at 21-14, but the Patriots enjoyed their best run late on, scoring seven out of the next nine points despite a Penn State timeout, 23-21. Even with the majority of the crowd behind them, the Patriots could not complete the impressive comeback as a kill by Calvin Mende (8 kills, 3 blocks) and an attack error by Mason scored back-to-back points for the Nittany Lions, which is all they needed to take the set 25-21.

-Mason managed to pull away first in the second set with a 3-0 run capped off with a service ace by Wilson, 6-3. The Patriots then held off their opponent before back-to-back errors from Braswell created another 3-0 run and doubled Mason's lead at 12-6. Phenomenal 83% side-out success (15-18) by Mason allowed consecutive points by Penn State only twice for the remainder of the set. After consecutive missed opportunities to close the set, third time was the charm for Wilson who picked up a kill for 25-17.

-Penn State went into double digits with a four-point lead in the third set, 10-6. The advantage was reduced to three when kills from Payne and Greenslade put Mason in double digits, 13-10. However, Penn State scored twice as many points as Mason for the remainder of the set to convincingly win it 25-16 and regain its lead in the match.

-The Nittany Lions started the fourth set on a 3-0 run on Braswell's service sequence, but winged by a strong home support the Patriots responded right away and for the following minutes the teams were neck in neck. Braswell's second time behind the line was even more successful as it resulted in a 4-0 run that put the Nittany Lions 13-9. Even though Braswell served in the net after the resulting Mason timeout, Penn State scored three consecutive points to double its lead at 16-10. The Patriots never came closer than within five before the Nittany Lions sealed the win with an ace by Albrecht that followed a Penrose kill, 25-17.

NEXT ON THE COURT

The Patriots return to action against Saint Francis (Pa.) at 7 p.m. on Saturday night.