MASON (7-9, 2-5 EIVA) at No. 2 Long Beach State (17-2, 13-1 MPSF) @ Active Ankle Classic
WHEN: 10 p.m., Friday, March 10, 2017
WHERE: Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: Long Beach State leads 2-1
LIVE STATS: BeachLiveStats.com
LIVE VIDEO: YouTube

MASON (7-9, 2-5 EIVA) vs No. 11 Cal State Northridge (12-7, 5-8 MPSF) @ Active Ankle Classic
WHEN: 8 p.m., Saturday, March 11, 2017
WHERE: Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: Cal State Northridge leads series 7-4
LIVE STATS: BeachLiveStats.com
LIVE AUDIO: KBeach.org

MASON (7-9, 2-5 EIVA) at No. 14 USC (6-12, 5-9 MPSF)
WHEN: 10 p.m., Monday, March 13, 2017
WHERE: North Gym, Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC  leads series 7-0
LIVE STATS: USCTrojans.com FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University's men's volleyball team will begin the most challenging portion of its regular-season schedule on Friday, which would include road matches against three ranked opponents.

Over the course of this weekend Mason will participate in the Active Ankle Classic, one of the most prestigious regular-season events in collegiate volleyball. The Patriots will square off with tournament host Long Beach State on Friday night and with another Mountain Pacific Sports Federation member, Cal State Northridge, on Saturday.

Final stop during the busy but exciting trip will be Los Angeles, where on Monday Mason will aim to grab first win over USC in program history.

The trip will be a homecoming for head coach Jay Hosack, who was born and raised in California and started his career there at alma mater UC Santa Cruz. His men will take on the challenging  agenda with some momentum from last week, when they defeated McKendree and Coker, respectively, for back-to-back victories for the first time since January.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

Long Beach State is having a fantastic season and has been ranked No. 2 in the AVCA Division I-II Men's Poll for five weeks running, behind only undefeated Ohio State (18-0). One of Beach's only two defeats this season came on the road to the Buckeyes on the road in late January. Beach did not suffer a single defeat in February and began March as well as Mason to go into the weekend on a 10-match win streak. Head coach Alan Knipe's team has turned the Walter Pyramid into a fortress in 2017 and bolster an 8-0 record at home.

Despite back-to-back losses to start March with, Cal State Northridge has been among the top 15 teams in the nation for each of AVCA's polls this season and tied its season-high ranking as No. 11 this week. Just like Mason, the Matadors are struggling in conference play, currently sitting eighth in the standings, but are perfect outside of the MPSF (8-0). Friday's Active Ankle Classic opener against No. 10 Loyola Chicago will be CSUN's first non-conference match against a ranked opponent. Among this weekend's opponents, the Matadors are the team that played Mason most recently, sweeping the Patriots in January 2015.

USC's 7-12 overall record makes them Mason's least arduous opponent on this trip. However, history is heavily on the Trojans' side as they have won all seven previous meetings. In addition, USC ended a three-match skid on Thursday by sweeping No. 5 Lewis with each set being won by two points. The Trojans have already faced EIVA opposition this season, falling to Penn State 3-2 in the AVCA Showcase during the opening weekend of the season. The match against Mason will be the first of three consecutive home matches against EIVA opponents with Harvard and Sacred Heart also coming to town. The Trojans are 4-3 in L.A. this season.