FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University's men's volleyball team was within three points of a sweep over Saint Francis on Saturday night, but waned away as the match progressed and eventually fell 3-2 to the Red Flash in the RAC Gym.

The match closed out the first half of Mason's (5-9) EIVA schedule and the defeat dropped the Patriots to 2-5 in conference play. Meanwhile, Saint Francis (8-9) won fourth of its last five EIVA matches and moved to the playoff-bound fourth spot for the time being with a 4-4 record.

MATCH NOTES

-Redshirt senior opposite hitter Jack Wilson (13 kills, 1 service ace) and sophomore outside hitter Kyle Barnes (10 kills, 1 service ace, 4 digs) led Mason offensively on the night. Freshman opposite hitter Bradley Creamer started the last two sets and picked up seven kills on eight swings for the most efficient hitting performance in the match, .875.

-Three Saint Francis attackers finished in double digits: Jeff Hogan and Michael Fisher shared the match-high achievement of 15 kills while Stephen Braswell added 11, but also picked up all of the Red Flash's six aces.

-Mason and Saint Francis were relatively even in the offensive criteria with .238 and .250 hitting percentage, respectively, and six aces apiece. Saint Francis won the battle on the defensive end, however, outdigging the Patriots 43-20.

-Solo blocks from redshirt sophomore middle blocker Langston Payne (9 kills, .333 hitting, 5 blocks), freshman outside hitter Sam Greenslade (7 kills, 2 aces, 3 blocks), and junior setter Brian Negron (45 assists, 2 kills, 2 blocks) contributed to Mason's 8.5 team blocks on the night. Saint Francis had 9.5 with only Tony Nicotra (8 kills, 4 blocks) picking a solo block for the Red Flash.

-Hogan completed his double-double with match-high 10 digs while senior libero Johnny Gomez had team-high seven digs for Mason, four more than the closest Patriot in that category.

-For the second night in a row, the Patriots doubled their opponent in service errors, 22-11. Mason had six in the decisive fifth set, which canceled out Mason's better nine kills and .615 hitting performance in it.

-Mason's energy level drastically dropped over the course of the two-hour match. The fourth and fifth sets were played out entirely under Saint Francis' control with Mason only managing to come on level terms as a result of four of the 66 points of those sets.

NEXT ON THE COURT

After going 1-5 in February, Mason will aim to start fresh in March as the Patriots continue their homestand next week with non-conference matches against McKendree and Coker.