FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason men's volleyball team (8-10, 3-5 EIVA) earned a victory in three sets (25-18, 25-22, 25-22) against Saint Francis (12-7, 6-3 EIVA) on Friday night inside the RAC. This is Mason's first conference win of the season at home.
Mason and Saint Francis (Pa.) came out fighting hard, going point for point until the Patriots hit their sixth point in the first set. The Green & Gold started to pull away ever so slightly to take the advantage over the Red Flash. The scoring effort from Saint Francis was not enough to take back or tie the lead for the rest of the set, allowing Mason to come away with the 25-18 victory.
Coming off a strong first set of play, Mason takes the lead early before Saint Francis (Pa.) ties the score 5-5 and then takes the lead until the Patriots hit their 14
th point of the set to tie the game again. The Red Flash and the Patriots exchange points to continue the tie to the 21-21 mark in the set. Mason comes away with the win in the second set 25-22 off crucial kills from sophomore
Omar Hoyos and freshman
Troy McDonald.
After losing the first two sets of the match, Saint Francis (Pa) stormed back with a vengeance to prevent the Patriots from taking the lead early in the third set. In a similar fashion to the second set, Mason and Saint Francis (Pa.) went point for point for a vast majority of the crucial third set of play. The Green & Gold took the lead at the 22
nd point of the set and were able to come away with the 25-22 win due to a save from McDonald.
"I thought our boys executed at a high level tonight, and paid attention to the little things," said Head Coach
Jay Hosack. "That's what helped us propel forward. A good win tonight for sure, but Sunday is another chance against a top team in the country in the EBA."
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Sophomore Omar Hoyos led the offensive momentum for the Patriots, tallying match highs and team highs in kills (12).
- Hoyos recorded a new season high hitting percentage of 0.476 (12 kills on 21 attempts, two errors).
- Senior Richie Hoff had a significant impact on the offensive end for the Patriots, recording 11 kills on 23 attempts for a 0.391 hitting percentage.
- Sophomore Collin Heath led the team on the defensive end, tallying a team high in digs (6).
- Redshirt sophomore Jack Bolz led the team on the offensive and defensive ends as well, recording seven kills and four digs in the win.
- Freshman Lucas Little led the match in blocks, tallying three in three sets played.
- The middle block Lucas Little also helped lead the team in hitting percentage, notching a 0.500 mark (three kills on six attempts).
- Freshman Troy McDonald led the match and team in assists, recording 26 in the match.
- McDonald led the team in hitting percentage, recording a 0.833 mark (five kills on six attempts).
- The Patriots tallied 11 total blocks in the match.
- Mason outhit Saint Francis (Pa.), 42.7 percent to the Red Flashes' 28.6 percent.
- Mason tallied 38 kills to Saint Francis's 33.
- Both Mason and Sacred Heart recorded five service aces a piece in the match.
UP NEXT
Mason will close out the weekend with another EIVA match, this one against No. 2 Penn State on Sunday Mar. 20 with first serve slated for 3 P.M. inside EagleBank Arena.
