Fairfax, Va.- The Patriots began their Illinois trip with a matchup against No.12 Lewis. Last time they faced was in 2023 when Mason were the home team and won 3-0. 

Game Recap:

The first set began with a Mason point by Omar Hoyos. The Patriots dropped an early lead but kept on fighting to keep it a close match. It was a continuous back and forth clash with both teams not letting the other take the lead. It was a one point game, 21-22 but Lewis stepped on the pedal and were the first team to reach 25 points and take over the first set. The Patriots had six service errors compared to Lewis' three service errors which was a key piece on why Lewis stayed on top.

Lewis took an early 7-2 lead forcing Mason to call a timeout in hopes to turn the tide. The  Patriots did score two points consecutively after the timeout but Lewis were able to keep a safe distance up until Sam Peters, Omar Hoyos, and Eamonn Testerman had their kills to cut the score to 9-11. The Flyers managed to regain a safe lead and when it seemed as if Mason was making a comeback, Lewis would go on a multiple point run to stay in the lead. Mason was behind 12-17 when another timeout was called by Jay Hosack. The timeout did not affect Lewis and they kept scoring more points to eventually extend their lead to 22-15. The Patriots were not giving up and went on a three point run to cut the lead to 23-18 but Lewis did score the 25th point to take the second set and lead 2-0. The Flyers hitting percentage was .269 compared to Mason's .156 and the attack errors cost the second set with Mason committing seven attack errors to the three that Lewis had.

The third set began with Jackson Herbert scoring the first point and giving the early lead to Mason. Lewis scored four unanswered points to take a 4-1 lead but the Patriots were able to tie the game up again at 6-6. The Flyers once again scored four points consecutively to extend the lead to 10-6 forcing George Mason to call a timeout. Three more points were scored by Lewis to have a 13-6 until Jackson Herbert stopped their scoring streak with a kill. The Flyers continued with three point runs to maintain a safe lead of six points, 20-14. Hayden Karpinski had a kill and a block assist with Jason Ashenfelter to cut the Flyers lead to 20-16. Game point for Lewis and Mason scored four points for the last attempt to comeback but the Flyers scored the 25th point to sweep the Patriots, 3-0.

By the Numbers:

• Jack Bolz led Mason with six kills

• Jackson Herbert had five kills tied with Colin Heath

• Georgi Zahariev had the most assists for the Patriots (17)

• Mason only had one ace while Lewis were able to get six aces

• Lewis had a hitting percentage of .322 compared to Mason's .167 hitting percentage