FAIRFAX, Va. - For the fourth time in a single season, George Mason claimed two of the three major EIVA end of the season individual awards. Senior Brian Negron (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) was named the 2018 Uvaldo Acosta Memorial Player of the Year and head coach Jay Hosack was named the Bob Sweeney EIVA Coach of the Year, announced Tuesday.

Negron represents the third player in program history, second outright, to be named EIVA Player of the Year. Shaun Powell won it outright in 2006 and Mark Jones shared it in 2015. The Bayamon, Puerto Rico native adds the 2018 EIVA Player of the Year award to his impressive resume of 2015 EIVA Newcomer of the Year, a two-time First-Team All-EIVA selection (2016, 2018), EIVA Offensive Player of the Week (March 7, 2016), a selection to the 2016 EIVA All-Tournament team and his 2017 EIVA All-Academic award. The four-year starter ranks second in program history for career assists (3,643) and is 50 assists shy of cracking 900 in a season for the third time in his illustrious career in the Green and Gold.

This is Hosack's second EIVA Coach of the Year award in a span of three years. 2018 is the sixth time the George Mason head coach won the annual EIVA award. This season, he guided the Patriots to the best conference record in the EIVA at 13-1 and won the program's only regular season conference championship in the era of the regular season champ hosting the EIVA Tournament (2000-present).

Negron led the conference in EIVA only assists per set (10.10) and guided George Mason to a .275 team attack percentage, an efficient attack that ranked 14th nationally. Among EIVA players, the senior setter finished second in overall assists per set despite playing his first two matches as an opposite hitter. After he made the move back to setter, he had four matches of 50 or more assists, most notably his season-high 57 night vs. Mount Olive (Jan. 19) and 55 vs. Harvard (April 13) to clinch the regular season EIVA championship.

In his three seasons at the helm in Fairfax, Hosack has compiled a 48-37 record (.565 pct) with a 29-13 conference record (.690 pct). The .690 conference winning percentage currently calculates to the highest among the five George Mason men's volleyball head coaches in program history. Hosack oversaw his team win 11 consecutive EIVA matches this season for the longest conference match winning streak in program history. The 2018 team edged the 2016 team's nine EIVA match winning streak, a season where the Patriots were also coached by Hosack.

The Patriots won the regular season EIVA title for the first time in the current conference alignment and will host the EIVA Tournament. The first match for the Green and Gold is Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. vs. Princeton at the RAC.

Click here to read official EIVA release.

For official George Mason Men's Volleyball All-EIVA selection release.

2018 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)
• Kyle Barnes - EIVA Offensive Player of the Week (Feb. 19)
• Hayden Wagner - Off The Block/MoltenUSA Opposite of the Week (Feb. 26)
• Johnny Gomez - EIVA Defensive Player of the Week (Feb. 26)
• Hayden Wagner - EIVA Offensive Player of the Week (Feb. 26)
• Kyle Barnes - EIVA Offensive Player of the Week (March 26)
• Will Calaman - EIVA Defensive Player of the Week (April 16)

• Brian Negron - First-Team All-EIVA
• Kyle Barnes - First-Team All-EIVA
• Hayden Wagner - First-Team All-EIVA
• Christian Malias - Second-Team All-EIVA
• Johnny Gomez - Second-Team All-EIVA
• Jack Reese - Second-Team All-EIVA

• Brian Negron - Uvaldo Acosta Memorial Player of the Year
• Jay Hosack - Bob Sweeney EIVA Coach of the Year