Fairfax- Mason defeated UC Irvine in an intense five set match at Crawford Hall. George Mason is on a two game winning streak with both opponents being nationally ranked higher than the Patriots.

Game Recap:

George Mason kept up with UC Irvine's tempo in the beginning of the first set, tying the score seven times before the Anteaters went on a 3-0 run to have a 13-9 lead. Mason did not want to fall behind and scored five unanswered points to take the lead themselves, 14-13. UC Irvine proceeded with another 3-0 run to regain the top spot and did not allow Mason to come back, winning the first set, 25-21.   

The beginning of the second set was similar to the first with each team taking a foot forward and then falling behind. That was until Colin Heath was subbed on and UC Irvine could not grasp the lead for the rest of the set. Sam Peters scored two of the final four points with two kills and Omar Hoyos ended it with a kill of his own to gain the 25th point and to tie up the game, 1-1. 

The third set was another back and forth match up until the score was 15-15 with Jack Bolz tying it up with a kill. The Anteaters scored three unanswered points until they called a timeout, and once they went back on the court they kept the rhythm going and secured the third set to claim a 2-1 lead (25-21). The hitting percentage for UC Irvine was key to winning the third set; their hitting percentage was .269 meanwhile Mason had a hitting percentage of .081. 

Early in the fourth set, George Mason had control of the game, having a 10-5 cushion. Lucas Little and Jack Bolz both had two kills early in the set to achieve the five point gap. The Anteaters attempted to tie up the game but the Patriots kept their cool and did not give up their lead. UC Irvine was close towards the end, tying up the set 22-22 with mostly errors made by the Patriots. With a kill by Lucas Little and a service ace by Omar Hoyos, the Patriots regained a two point gap but UC Irvine's Akhil Tangutur cut the lead in half until Omar Hoyos added another kill to his name to force a fifth set (25-23). 

George Mason came out firing in the fifth set getting an early 3-0 until UC Irvine scored their first point of the set. The Patriots went on to have another 3 point run and extended the gap to five points. Mason had their biggest lead of the game when they were ahead by eight points, 12-4. Only three points were needed to finalize the game, but the Anteaters scored three unanswered points, had another two point run, and finally a late three point run to almost make a comeback, cutting down the score to only 14-12. George Mason called a valuable timeout to cut their momentum and when they stepped back onto the court, Jack Bolz made the game-winning kill to secure a historic win for the Patriots over No. 3 UC Irvine. 

Quotable:
"It's been a while since we have beaten a top 5 team", Mason head coach Jay Hosack said. "UCI is very good but we have been working hard in practice and it showed our potential tonight. I'm very proud of our team and how they handled this trip."

By the Numbers:

• Jack Bolz led the Patriots with 14 kills

• Liam French had the most service aces from both teams with 4 aces

• Troy McDonald led in three categories; Most blocks (5), assists (29), and digs (7)

• George Mason had more total kills (59) compared to UC Irvine (53)

Up Next:
Mason will travel to Newark, New Jersey to face off against No. 2 Long Beach State. Game will be on January 19th at 4:30 p.m.