Fairfax, Va.- No.15 George Mason defeated the University of Charleston to reach the EIVA Championship for the first time since 2021. A rocky start with eight service errors was soon forgotten once the Patriots ran riot to sweep the Golden Eagles.
The first set began with both teams going back and forth with 10 ties occurring in the first half of the set. Charleston had a three-point run to take a lead of 14-12 but Mason scored four points to regain the lead, 18-17. The game tied up six more times with each team fighting to set the tone for the rest of the game. At 23-23,
Omar Hoyos recorded another kill to take a late lead and Omar appeared once again with another kill to secure the 25
th point and the first set for the Patriots.
The Golden Eagles put in all their effort in the first set and were shut down by the Patriots. Mason continued their momentum from the first set and took a quick 10-5 lead with blocks from
Omar Hoyos,
Lucas Little, and
Troy McDonald. The Golden Eagles attempted to cut the lead with a three-point run but the Patriots were not phased and pushed forward. Mason achieved a three-point run with two attack errors and a service ace from
Sam Peters. A
Lucas Little kill pulled George Mason to the goal of securing the second set. 25-16.
The Patriots were fired up meanwhile Charleston entered a moment of desperation. The Golden Eagles came out firing with a 6-3 lead but with a service error and kills by
Omar Hoyos and
Jack Bolz, the game was tied up once again at 7-7. The game went back and forth until it was 10-10, George Mason did not give up the lead for the rest of the set.
Lucas Little had a moment of brilliance where he executed two consecutive service aces to give the Patriots a 20-15 lead. A service error gave Mason the 24
th point and the main man,
Omar Hoyos, secured the final point to push the Patriots to the EIVA Championship.
Quotable:
"We executed our game plan perfectly tonight," said head coach
Jay Hosack. "The first set we missed a few too many serves, but down the stretch we put a lot of pressure on them. We are excited to play for the conference title this Saturday and represent Mason Nation"!
By the Numbers:
- Redshirt-senior Jack Bolz led the team with 18 kills
- Junior middle blocker Lucas Little came clutch with three service aces
- Sam Peters and Troy McDonald were the defensive wall today achieving three blocks each
- Junior setter Troy McDonald also helped offensively dishing out 38 assists
- Sophomore libero Paul Wyszynski was crucial in defense as well recording 11 digs
Up Next:
George Mason will play their final season game on Saturday for the EIVA Championship. The final game will be played at Rec Hall at 7 pm against the winner between Penn State and Harvard.
