GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY VS. NJIT HIGHLANDERS
WHEN: Friday, Feb. 16, 2018 at 7 p.m.
WHERE: RAC Gym (1,550)
RECORDS: Mason (4-7), NJIT (2-7)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads 51-9
LAST MEETING: Mason def. NJIT 3-0 [28-26, 26-24, 25-17 on Apr. 7, 2017 (Fairfax, Va.)
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY VS. PRINCETON TIGERS
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018 at 7 p.m.
WHERE: RAC Gym (1,550)
RECORDS: Mason (TBD), Princeton (1-9)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads 45-24
LAST MEETING: Princeton def. Mason 3-1 [22-25, 25-17, 23-25, 16-25] on Apr. 8, 2017 (Fairfax, Va.)
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FAIRFAX, Va. - George Mason begins conference okay with matches against NJIT. The weekend matches will be the last at the RAC for the Patriots before hitting the road for approximately six weeks.
For the second week in a row, the Patriots collected five votes in the AVCA poll, putting them just on the outskirts of being ranked in the top-15. The Patriots also received five votes in the preseason poll. Penn State represents the only EIVA team currently in the top-15, sitting at No. 9.
Mason and NJIT are the only two teams yet to play an EIVA match this season, putting them in the middle of the conference standings. Charleston (W.V.), Penn State and Harvard have won all their conference matches, with Saint Francis (Pa.), Sacred Heart and Princeton dropping their early EIVA contests.
PATRIOT POINTS
• Mason is 22-15 all-time in conference openers, but have lost their last four. Friday will be the first time since 1998 that the Patriots will have NJIT as their first conference opponent of the season.
• This is the first time since 2016 the Patriots will open EIVA play at the RAC. So far at home, Mason is 4-5 while NJIT (0-4) and Princeton (0-6) are both searching for their first road wins.
• The Green and Gold are coming off a 1-1 weekend against two 2017 NCAA Tournament teams. Mason defeated Barton 3-0 on Feb. 9 and dropped a tightly contested 3-0 match to No. 1 Long Beach State. Sophomore
Hayden Wagner led the Patriots in kills during both matches (16 vs. Barton, eight vs. LBSU). RS-junior
Langston Payne led the Patriots on the defensive end, compiling seven total blocks over the two matches for an average of 1.17 blocks per set.
• After tallying the 41 attempts last weekend, Wagner finally has enough attempts to qualify for NCAA statistical leaders. As of Thursday, his 4.26 points per set puts him at 11th in the country while his 3.48 points per set is 14th. Wagner leads the EIVA in both categories.
• In his last three matches, Wagner is leading the Patriots with 3.67 kills per set on a .295 hit percentage (33-15-61). He's also recorded the most service aces on the team in that stretch with five.
• Senior
Brian Negron continues to rack up the assists since moving back to setter. He registered 58 last weekend to put his average at 9.93 at that position. Conference play is where Negron has taken it up a notch, compiling a career 1407 assists for 10.42 assists per set. Last year Negron was second in the EIVA with an average of 10.14 conference assists per set.
• Payne has been the most productive Patriot from a blocking standpoint in the last four matches. His 15 total blocks leads the team in that stretch, and is the most amount of blocks he's totaled in a four-match stretch in his career.
• RS-freshman
Jack Reese had his 10-match block streak snapped against No. 1 Long Beach State. It was the longest individual block streak since Negron had a block in 13 straight matches, a streak that began on Mar. 11, 2017 and extended to the Loyola-Chicago match of this year (Jan. 12).
• As a team, Mason is second in the EIVA in hit percentage (.244), kills per set (11.82) and assists per set (11).The Patriots are third in the conference for blocks per set (2.21) and aces per set (1.47).
• As of Thursday, the Patriots who crack the NCAA top-15 in statistical categories are
Hayden Wagner (11th in points per set, 14th in kills per set) and
Johnny Gomez's 2.58 digs per set (8th).
•
Awards/Honors Archive:
Johnny Gomez - Preseason Off The Block/SpringBak Inc. Top Player from Florida;
Hayden Wagner - EIVA Offensive Player of the Week (Jan. 22);
Johnny Gomez - EIVA Defensive Player of the Week (Jan. 22);
Jack Reese - EIVA Defensive Player of the Week (Jan. 29).
HISTORY VS. NJIT
The series between the Patriots and Highlanders goes back to 1976 and the two have faced off 59 times since. In the 61st meeting on Friday, Mason will look to extend its win streak to two matches, a new streak the team was forced to start after they saw they 16-match win streak against NJIT snapped last season. Some of the best individual performances by Patriots have come against the Highlanders, such as Mark Burik posting seven service aces (T-4th in program history) on Apr. 12, 2008 as well as Max McFarland logging 28 digs (4th in program history) on Apr. 14, 2012. Among current players, notable performances include
Brian Negron's 57 assists on Mar. 4, 2016,
Johnny Gomez's 12 digs in Mason three-set win the last time the two teams saw each other (Apr. 7, 2017) and Brad Creamer setting a career high in kills (7) on Feb. 17, 2017.
Christian Malias has also enjoyed great success against the Highlanders, logging 10 kills on Mar. 4, 2016, five total blocks on Apr. 7, 2016 and notching four aces on Apr. 25, 2015.
A LOOK AT THE HIGHLANDERS (2-7, 0-0 EIVA)
NJIT, picked to finish sixth in the EIVA, was faced with the tall task of replacing the production of 2017 EIVA Player of the Year Jabarry Goodridge. Through nine matches, the bulk of the offensive production has come through MB Alvaro Gimeno who is averaging 3.10 kills per set - good for third in the EIVA. Gimeno is also averaging 0.59 service aces per set, putting him at third in the NCAA. Even though their record reads 2-7, the Highlanders played seven ranked opponents and are the only team to take a set from No. 1 Long Beach State to this point. Recent history shows the Highlanders on a two-match winning streak after their straight sets wins over Lindenwood (Jan. 25) and Belmont Abbey (Feb. 3). In those two matches, NJIT hit a combined .345 (70-21-142). Through nine matches, NJIT leads the EIVA in service aces per set (1.66).
HISTORY VS. PRINCETON
George Mason holds a 45-24 edge over long-time conference foe Princeton, a series that dates back to 1976. The Tigers represent the Patriots' second most frequent opponent all-time. Record books have been re-written against the Tigers, like on Mar. 10, 2012 when Michael Kvidahl notched the most service aces ever by a Patriot with 10. Additionally, Mike Mauro logged the second highest kill total in a match (41) on Feb. 13, 1995. Last time the two teams saw each other,
Jack Wilson posted 22 kills in a performance that resulted in a season high for the Green and Gold.
A LOOK AT THE TIGERS (1-9, 0-2 EIVA)
Princeton, predicted to finish second in the EIVA, has stumbled out of the gate with a 1-9 record and have dropped their last seven. The Tigers will be looking to rebound to their tough start to EIVA play last weekend, where they were on the wrong end of Charleston (W.V.)'s first two EIVA wins in program history. One bright spot for Princeton has been the performance of 2017 Newcomer of the Year George Huhmann. Through ten matches he's averaging 3.91 points per set (Third in the EIVA), most of which has come from his 3.09 kills per set average, which ranks third in the conference. Saturday will be the Tigers' seventh road match already, a category that has not been kind to them with the record away from Princeton reading 0-6.
