MASON (8-11, 2-5 EIVA) vs Barton College (14-4, 12-2 Conference Carolinas)
WHEN: 7 p.m., Friday, March 24, 2017
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
LIVE STATS: SideArm Stats
LIVE VIDEO: Patriot Vision ($)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads series 1-0

MASON (8-11, 2-5 EIVA) vs Charleston (W.Va.) (11-12, 0-9 EIVA)
WHEN: 4 p.m., Saturday, March 25, 2017
WHERE: RAC Gym, Fairfax, Va.
LIVE STATS: SideArm Stats
LIVE VIDEO: Patriot Vision ($)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads series 4-0 FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University's men's volleyball team begins its final home stretch with matches against Barton College and Charleston (W.Va.) this weekend.

Friday's match against the Bulldogs will be Mason's final non-conference contest for 2017. This will be only the second meeting in the series between the two teams. The Patriots won the only contest on the books 3-1 in the winter of 2014.

The following night, the Patriots will return to EIVA play with a matchup against Charleston (W.Va.). In its slightly richer history against the Golden Eagles, the Patriots have a perfect 4-0 record in the series, winning all four matches since the inaugural January 2015 meeting in straight sets. The teams already met this season in a kick-off of the EIVA regular season, in which Mason spoiled Charleston's season opener with a 3-0 win at the brand-new Wehrle Innovation Center on Jan. 12. That result was one of the Patriots' two EIVA wins in the first half of conference play.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

Barton comes to town in much better form than it did three seasons ago, when they were 2-4. The Bulldogs, who were selected as Conference Carolinas favorite in preseason, have lost only four matches this season and have won all of their six previous contests. As a result, they are tied with Mount Olive for most wins by a CC team with 12 each. However, Mason will be the only the third Div. I team that Barton will face this season. In late January the Bulldogs lost in three sets both at No. 1 Ohio State and Saint Francis (Pa.) in the same weekend.
In its third season as a program, Charleston (W.Va.) is having a much better campaign than the 4-22 record that it posted a year ago. However, the Golden Eagles are still searching for its first ever EIVA win after a cumulative 0-23 since joining the conference last year. Charleston entered the second half of conference play this season with a home doubleheader against NJIT last weekend, dropping both matches to the Highlanders. With the straight-set victories in the Wehrle Innovation Center, NJIT extended their win streak to six matches and moved to third place in the EIVA standings.