- Mason suffered a 3-0 setback to Saint Francis on Friday night.
- The Patriots drop to 14-8 overall and 7-4 in conference play.
- Mason returns to action on Saturday night against Penn State, first serve set for 7 p.m. at REC Hall.
FINAL: Mason 3, Saint Francis 0 (PDF Box Score)
Wagner – 7 kills; Velez – 31 assists; Velez – 6 digs
LORETTO, Pa. – No. 15 George Mason men's volleyball suffered its second 3-0 loss of the season season, falling to Saint Francis on Friday night. The Patriots drop to 14-8 overall and 7-4 in EIVA play. With the loss, Mason moves to fourth in league standings while the Red Flash sit alone in third place.
"We have lost our killer instincts as of late," said head coach
Jay Hosack. "Playing well for spurts is not good enough to beat teams that are fighting to host the playoffs. We will have to find that will to win again if we are to be successful."
There was no shortage of drama to start the match as the first set saw 24 ties and eight lead changes. With Saint Francis claiming a late 24-22 lead, the Patriots fought off two set points to force extra points. Mason had three set point opportunities but SFU was able to tie up the set each time. Ultimately, the Red Flash took the opening set, 31-29.
Hayden Wagner and
Sam Greenslade each tabbed six kills while
Luis Velez dished out 17 of his 31 assists in the first set.
To start the second set, Mason claimed an early 7-4 lead after a kill by
Langston Payne. Later in the set, the Patriots went on a five-point scoring run behind Payne's serving, including two service aces from the middle blocker. However, the service woes ensued for the two teams. Six straight service errors in the set put Mason at a slim advantage, 22-21. Saint Francis finished the set on a 4-0 scoring run to win 25-23.
Mason debuted a new lineup to start the third set. A mixture of experience and youth helped Mason keep the game close. Senior
Travis O'Gorman combined with RS-freshman
Mike Kapusta and freshman
Richie Hoff to give Mason's offense a lift. Back-to-back kills by Kapusta cut Saint Francis' lead to two, 18-16. However, the Red Flash claimed seven of the final nine points to win the final set, 25-19. Kapusta tallied four kills while Hoff tabbed a personal-best three kills in the match.
NOTABLE STATS
- Mason recorded a season-high 22 service errors including a set-high 10 in the third set. In a close first set, Mason's five service errors proved to be the difference.
- Wagner's 20-match double-digit kill streak came to end as the opposite hitter registered seven kills in the match.
- Velez was the lone Patriot to play in all sets, registering 31 assists, six digs and three kills.
UP NEXT
Mason takes on rival Penn State at 7 p.m. on Saturday at REC Hall in University Park, Pa.
