FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University's men's volleyball team had to go to five sets on Saturday night, but ultimately prevailed 3-2 over Sacred Heart for its fourth-straigh victory, one that showed the rest of the EIVA that the defending champion is still very much in the fight for a postseason berth.

Mason (12-11, 5-5 EIVA) fought back from a set down early on and then retained its composure despite a fourth-set disappointment to fight off a strong Sacred Heart (12-9, 5-5 EIVA) for the second time in as many nights.

In multiple key moments of the match, the Patriots received an energy boost from a decent-sized and extremely noisy crowd of former players who were in town for Alumni Weekend.

"It's great to win in front of alumni like that," Mason head coach Jay Hosack said seconds after his interview was interrupted by multiple former Patriots cheering his name on camera.

"Those guys had great energy. In fact so much energy that they knocked the lights out right before the match started." The match was delayed by 10 minutes or so after the power went out in the entire building right after the alumni introduction, casting some doubt of an untactful April Fools' joke.

That energy transferred onto the court, where freshman outside hitter Sam Greenslade repeated his career-high performance of 12 kills only a night after setting it while senior libero Johnny Gomez racked up his season-best 19 digs. Redshirt senior opposite hitter Jack Wilson was also in the mood once again, picking up another team-high performance with 14 kills.

As a whole, Mason put up one of its most balanced performance under Hosack with eight out of the 10 players who participated in the match getting at least one kill and seven digging up at least one Sacred Heart attack attempt. In total, the Patriots combined for 55 kills, 44 digs, four service aces, and nine blocks on the night.

The Pioneers, in turn, were led offensively by Christopher DeLucie with match-high 17 kills while Taylor Bloomquist and Emerson Waumans were just a kill away from double digits. Libero Joshua Ayzenberg crossed the double-digit threshold defensively with 12 digs. In addition, Sacred Heart had five players who contributed at least three blocks to the Pioneers' 15 team blocks, the pinnacle being Bloomquist's 10 blocks. Redshirt senior middle blocker Graham Gresham and junior setter Brian Negron led Mason at the net with five and four blocks, respectively.

Sacred Heart won the first set 25-22 largely thanks to a 9-4 mid-set run that featured four of the Pioneers' 6.5 blocks in the opening stanza. Mason responded by taking the second one with the same scoreline after hitting .429 – Gresham led the team with three kills on three swings – and converting 18 of its 22 sideout opportunities.

There was nothing to separate the teams eight points into the third set but then Mason won the following four points on senior outside hitter Radoslav Popov's serving sequence. The Patriots never let Sacred Heart threaten the lead seriously and turned the third set into the most one-sided portion of the affair, winning in 25-17. Five Mason players had multiple kills in the set and four of them did not commit a single mistake.

Both teams led by as many as three in the fourth set but ultimately it was only one point – to Sacred Heart's advantage – that separated them as they entered the final stage of the set, 20-19. Substitute Blake Cox was the hero for the Pioneers late on after assisting Bloomquist for a block – his only involvement at the net in the match – and grabbing a kill immediately after to give his team a comfortable 23-19 lead. DeLucie took care of the remaining points needed by Sacred Heart and forced a fifth set with a kill for 25-20.

Wilson, Popov, and Greenslade each contributed a kill for Mason's set-best 3-0 run in the fifth, which allowed the Patriots to pull away by three at 9-6. When Sacred Heart manage to come within a point at 11-10, the former two had to burden themselves with key swings, both of which resulted in kills, 13-10. Mason's last two points came off Pioneer errors with only a kill by Cox managing to delay the celebrations of Patriots past and present in the RAC, which finally came at 15-11.

NEXT ON THE COURT

After knocking the Pioneers out of the top four of the EIVA standings, Mason will strive to do the same to NJIT on Friday. The following night, the Patriots' seniors will play in the RAC Gym one final time as Princeton comes to town on Senior Night.