FAIRFAX, Va. – Three players recorded double digits offensively on Saturday, two of them setting new career-highs, as George Mason University's men's volleyball team defeated Coker 3-1 in the RAC and recorded its second victory of the weekend.

MATCH NOTES

-The match was the 12^th occasion this season in which redshirt senior opposite hitter Jack Wilson (.423 hitting, 1 service ace, 3 blocks) has had 10 or more kills. Just like on Friday, Mason's captain put in a match-high performance, this time with 17 kills.
-At the same time, after falling one kill short against McKendree freshman outside hitter Sam Greenslade marked his third consecutive start with career-high 10 kills. The number 13 brought fortune to sophomore outside hitter Kyle Barnes, who had that many kills to achieve a new career-high. Barnes hit .440 on the way to the achievement, which was highest among the Patriots with 10 or more attack attempts.
-Overall, Mason turned 54 of its 100 attempts into kills and hit .330 as a team, which was slightly higher than Coker's .316 with 49 kills.
-Junior setter Brian Negron's 45 assists and Greenslade's two aces tied Coker's team totals in the respective categories.
-Joao Victor Santos had team-high 12 kills for Coker despite coming off the bench with two points remaining in the opening set. Santos hit .400 and contributed six blocks in his time on the court, second only to teammate Luca Berger in the latter.
-For the second night running, Mason committed fewer service errors than its opponent, 19-17. The Cobras compensated those by digging up two more balls than the Patriots, 21-19, and putting together an extra block against them, 11-10.
-Senior libero Johnny Gomez's nine digs were by far the most for a match in which no one reached double digits in that component. Greenslade and Coker's Sanjae Holloway (9 kills, 1 block) followed Gomez with five digs apiece.
-Saturday's win was Mason's first successive victory since Jan. 20, when the Patriots swept King eight days after doing the same in the EIVA opener at Charleston (W.Va.).

HOW IT HAPPENED

-Mason's largest lead in the opening set came off of redshirt sophomore middle blocker Langston Payne's first kill in the match, 8-2. It took Coker only two serving sequences –Holloway's and Devion Whetstone's (8 kills, .636 hitting, 1 ace) – to make up the ground lost and tie the score at 9 all. That was the first of four tied scores in the set before Mason capitalized on four Coker errors to pull away at 17-14 and force the Cobras' first timeout. When play resumed, Coker within just a point numerous times but composed attacking plays from Wilson and Greenslade kept the Cobras at bay before the Patriots went on a late 4-1 run to close the set with some comfort, 25-21.

-A kill by Barnes gave Mason a three-point lead going into double digits, but several minutes of attacking inefficiency resulted in a 5-1 Coker run and the Cobras took the lead, 12-11. The lead switched hands five times before a team would again lead by more than just a point: that happened on an ace by Negron for 23-21. Soon afterwards, a Wilson kill gave the Patriots a double set point at 24-22 but Holloway took control of the situation and picked up three-straight kills to not just pull Coker out of the hole but to put the visitors in front as well, 25-24. Coker had to cancel out another set point due to back-to-back errors it committed, but ultimately it clawed its way to 29-27 in the set and tied the match at a set apiece.

-Mason showed different sides early in the third set and went from leading 3-0 to trailing 9-6 in a matter of minutes. With Coker retaining the lead as the teams entered the latter stage of the set, Mason's head coach Jay Hosack was forced to call for his first timeout of the match with the Patriots trailing 17-15. The huddle speech had an immediate impact on the Patriots and they tied the score right away with consecutive kills from freshman middle blocker Bryce Gatling (5 kills, 4 blocks). Five plays later Mason was back in the lead after a service error by Berger for 20-19 and demonstrated steel nerves late on to close the set at 25-21 with multiple kills from Wilson and Greenslade in the final 5-2 run.

-The Patriots won seven of the first 10 points in the fourth set and despite going through a temporary crisis that allowed Coker to come within one at 8-7, Mason never gave up the initiative. Another 7-3 run increased the lead to six, which was Mason's largest advantage for the majority of the set with the Cobras never again coming within fewer than four points. A triple stuff on Jackson Gilbert (9 kills, 3 blocks, 2 digs) courtesy of Payne, Negron and Greenslade gave Mason a match point at 24-17 and a couple of plays later Greenslade topped off the contest with his 10^th kill, which brought him double joy on the night.

NEXT ON THE COURT

Mason will have a busy but also an exciting spring break. The Patriots will travel to California to participate in the Active Ankle Classic, where they will face No. 2 Long Beach State and No. 12 Cal State Northridge. Mason will conclude the business part of the trip with a match at No. 14 USC in Los Angeles.