WHEN: March 29 and March 30, 2019
WHERE: Recreation Athletic Complex (Fairfax, Va.)
OPPONENTS: Princeton – 7 p.m. Friday; NJIT – 7 p.m. Saturday
LIVE STATS
LIVE STREAM: Friday |
Saturday
GAME OF THE WEEK: Saturday's match against NJIT will be Mason's Game of the Week. Mason students will receive a free silipint cup with valid ID.
SENIOR NIGHT: Fans are encouraged to arrive early on Saturday as Mason honors its six seniors;
Will Calaman,
Kyle Barnes,
Justin Coleman,
Langston Payne,
Aaron Cymbor and
Travis O'Gorman.
FAIRFAX, Va. – No. 13 Mason men's volleyball returns to the RAC for its final two regular season home matches as they begin the final stretch of conference play. The Patriots (13-6, 6-2) start the weekend with a match against conference-leader Princeton on Friday, first serve slated for 7 p.m. at the RAC.
On Saturday night, Mason wraps up the home part of its schedule with a 7 p.m. match against NJIT. The Patriots will honor its six seniors prior to the match with an on-court ceremony.
Kyle Barnes,
Will Calaman,
Justin Coleman,
Aaron Cymbor,
Langston Payne and
Travis O'Gorman will be honored for their accomplishments over the past four years.
LAST TIME OUT
Mason took the last week off after completing a 1-2 west coast road trip on March 11-17. The Patriots fell in straight sets to then-#6 Pepperdine and split a pair of matches with Grand Canyon. The Patriots suffered its second five-set loss of the season to GCU but responded with a dominant sweep over the Lopes the following night.
MOVIN' UP
Even after a week off, the Patriots saw movement in this week's AVCA DI-DII Coaches Poll. Mason now sits tied with Ball State for 13th in the country. Mason remains the sole EIVA squad to be ranked in the poll this season.
EIVA AWARD SWEEP
On March 18,
Hayden Wagner and
Jack Reese swept the EIVA awards for the second time this year. Wagner set a program record with his fourth Offensive Player of the Week honor this season while Reese earned his third career Defensive Player of the Week award. The middle blocker recorded a career-high 12 blocks in Mason's first meeting with the Lopes. He followed the performance with 10 blocks in the 3-0 sweep.
UP NEXT
Mason hits the road for two straight weeks to round out conference play. First, the Patriots take on Saint Francis (Pa.) and Penn State the weekend of April 5-6 before back-to-back matches against Harvard on April 12-13.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Princeton Tigers: 10-12, 8-1 EIVA
The Tigers currently sit in first place in the EIVA with a conference record of 8-1. In the playoff race for the top seed, Princeton holds a 1.5-match lead over Mason and Penn State.
The Tigers recently fell in all three contests at the BYU Invitational, including losses to then-#8 BYU and then-#2 Hawaii. Nine of Princeton's 12 losses have come against AVCA ranked opponents.
Earlier this season, Mason fell in four sets to Princeton. The Patriots held the advantage defensively, recording more blocks and digs, but was limited to a .195 hitting percentage.
NJIT Highlanders: 7-12, 2-7 EIVA
NJIT comes to Fairfax, Va., with a 9-17 record and 2-7 conference mark. The Highlanders recently picked up a midweek win against Belmont Abbey. With the sweep against Belmont Abbey, NJIT comes to the RAC on a three-match winning streak.
Earlier this season, Mason swept NJIT in Newark, N.J. The Patriots executed on all cylinders to hold the advantage in every statistical category. Wagner led all hitters with 13 kills while Calaman stablized the defense with 11 digs.
