FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's volleyball team (7-4, 2-0) defeated Harvard in five sets (22-25, 32-30, 25-23, 21-25, 15-7) inside the Recreation Athletic Complex. Mason now leads the head-to head 14-8 and has won the last six meetings against the Crimson.
 

Head coach Jay Hosack dicussed how his squad gutted out a very difficult EIVA conference match on Friday night.

"It was not the prettiest of victories tonight, but we found a way to win when it mattered," Hosack said. "I am real proud of my guys and how they dug deep in that second set. We are going to watch film, get better, and learn some things about ourselves. Harvard is a good team and they are going to come after us tomorrow and give us all they got and we have to be ready for it."

The match was full of momentum swings, including a period in the second set when both programs went back-and-forth with seven lead changes and 18 ties throughout the set.

The Patriots faced four match points but took a dramatic second set 32-30. Mason followed it up with a third set victory (25-23) before the Crimson stormed back to force a deciding fifth set. The Patriots raced out to a 10-3 lead and never trailed in a victorious 15-7 fifth set. 

Sophomore Richie Hoff lead the Patriots with 19 kills on the night, one shy of his season high, while freshman Aryton Garcia-Jurado had a career-high of 39 assists on the offensive end for the Patriots.

Senior Sam Greenslade had a career night as well, earning a a career best 15 digs. 

The two offenses were fairly similar, as the Patriots earned an attacking percentage of .231 on the night, while the Crimson tallied an attacking percentage of .221. The victory extends Mason's winning streak to three as the Green & Gold start a four-game home stretch.

NEXT UP

The Patriots continue their series against conference foe Harvard on Saturday, Feb. 15th at 3 p.m. inside the Recreation Athletic Complex (RAC).