FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's volleyball program has announced its schedule for the 2018 season, featuring five matches against 2017 NCAA tournament participants, including a home match against Penn State April 7 and against defending National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes on Feb. 3. The Patriots, coached by Jay Hosack in his third season leading the team, will be in action beginning Jan. 5 and could be in action as late as early May when the NCAA Tournament will take place.

Mason opens the season at home welcoming Limestone College and Grand Canyon University the weekend of Jan. 5-7, with Limestone being the season opener Jan. 5 followed by a match Grand Canyon each of the following two days. The following weekend the Patriots hit the road for the first time and travel to the Greater Chicago Area to face Loyola on Jan. 12 and Lewis University 24 hours later.

Followed by a lone weekend home match against Mount Olive University Jan. 19, the Patriots will host the Uvaldo Acosta Invitational from Jan 26-28. The participating teams include Pepperdine, whom Mason will play Jan. 26, and Ball State on the final day of the invitational on Jan. 28.  

As the calendar flips to February the home stand continues with three tough opponents to wrap up the first portion of non-conference play. On Feb. 3 the Patriots welcome the defending National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes to the RAC, the number one team in the nation and a program that's posted a 63-5 record over the last two seasons. The following weekend two 2017 NCAA Tournament participants are in town starting with Barton College on Feb. 9 and Long Beach State University on Feb. 10.

Hosack's squad will kickoff EIVA play by wrapping up the eight-match home stand against New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) on Feb. 16 and Princeton on Feb. 17. The following weekend will be the Patriots first meeting with rival Penn State in State College, Pa. on Feb. 23, followed immediately by a Feb. 24 match 65 miles away against St. Francis.

The green and gold will be on the road for the entire month of March beginning with a two-match series at Sacred Heart March 2 and 3. The team will then take a break from EIVA play and head to Southern California to take on the UCLA Bruins March 9 and California State-Northridge on March 10. Before leaving the area the Patriots have a mid-week match against UC Irvine set for March 13. 

Following the California trip, George Mason resumes conference play by looking to maintain their undefeated all-time record against University of Charleston March 23 and 24. Before returning home the Patriots close out the road trip and the month of March in New Jersey for their second meetings of 2018 against NJIT (March 30) and Princeton (March 31).

Mason will close out the regular season with four home matches within the first two weeks of April. First up is St. Francis on April 6 then round two with the Penn State Nittany Lions April 7 at 7 p.m. Finally the Patriots will see the EIVA foe Harvard for a two-match series April 13 and 14. The match against the Crimson on the 14th will be Senior Night for three players playing their last home regular season match in the green and gold. Graduate student libero Johnny Gomez, redshirt-senior outside hitter Christian Malias and senior setter Brian Negron will be honored with the traditional senior night ceremony.

Following the conclusion of the regular season, the EIVA tournament begins April 19 with the Finals set for April 21. The team that sits at the top of the EIVA standings at the end of the regular season will serve as the host team.

If the Patriots do well enough in the EIVA tournament, their season will continue into May for the NCAA Tournament in Los Angeles. The tournament is scheduled for May 1-5.

To view the full men's volleyball schedule, click here.