FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason Men's Volleyball team beat No. 19 New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) 3-1 Friday night at the Recreation Athletic Complex (RAC). With tonight's win, the Patriots even this season's home-and-home series with the Highlanders.
PATRIOT POINTS
- The Patriots put up more points (69.0 to 57.0), kills (59 to 47), aces (three to two), assists (54 to 44) and digs (41 to 37) than the Highlanders.
- This is the Patriots' first ranked-win since last season on March 14, 2025, when they beat the Highlanders, ranked No. 19 as well, by the same score.
- Sophomore pin hitter Aidan Weltin and junior outside hitter Robert Evangelista recorded team-high 15 kills
- Senior setter Georgi Zahariev had a season-high 53 assists and was one shy of tying his career best set on April 19, 2023, against Harvard.
After being away from the RAC for two weeks, George Mason (8-6, 2-2 EIVA) powered through with a 3-1 win over NJIT (10-6, 4-1 EIVA) on Friday night. The Patriot offense displayed speed and power, hitting .500 in the first set, .345 in the third and a stellar .536 in the match-clinching fourth.
SET 1: George Mason - 25, NJIT - 23
The Patriots took the Highlanders wire-to-wire, never once falling behind. After a brief tie at three, the Patriots would slowly and methodically pile on the points thanks to a .500 team hitting percentage and a perfect 1.000 from sophomore middle blocker
Alexander Lillie.
NJIT's attempts to close in, led by Wiktor Nowak (who had a game-high 21 kills) and Andre Aleixo, were marred by service errors. Evangelista sealed the set with a kill from Zahariev, clinching a 25-23 victory for the Patriots. The Highlanders challenged the set-clinching point, claiming that it was a back row attack. Upon further review, the call was later confirmed, ending the 25-minute set.
SET 2: George Mason - 21, NJIT - 25
Despite George Mason taking the first two points with impressive rallies, the Highlanders fought back to quickly tie the score and take the rest of the second set. NJIT had four 3-0 runs compared the the Patriots' one and showed a more sustained offense.
The Patriots countered with strong performances from
Aidan Weltin, who landed several vital kills, but service errors and NJIT's blocking, particularly from Parker Moorhead and Alex Heins, stifled their momentum.
Despite a late surge by George Mason to cut the score from 24-18 to 24-21, NJIT wrapped up the set with a Heins kill, set up by Bruno Figueiredo.
SET 3: George Mason - 25, NJIT - 17
The Patriots regained their stride, winning their most decisive set on the night.
Robert Evangelista and Weltin were key, contributing multiple kills as Zahariev continued to fuel the offensive engine en route to a season-high 53 assist game.
Down 6-5 early on, a crucial game-high 5-0 run by the Patriots swayed momentum in the set. A game-tying service ace by Weltin and a double block between Zahariev and
Elijah Lazor shifted the momentum, giving George Mason a 9-6 lead.
After that pivotal run, the Patriots never relinquished the lead in the set. NJIT's efforts, including kills from Moorhead and Nowak, couldn't overcome the Patriots' lead, with service errors on both sides affecting play.
SET 4: George Mason - 25, NJIT - 19
George Mason continued their momentum going into the fourth set by posting their best attacking percentage of the night at .536.
NJIT's Nowak opened with a kill for a 2-0 lead, but George Mason fought back and tied it at 5-5 with an emphatic Lazor kill. After losing a point on the next serve, the Patriots went on the set's only 3-0 run to take a 8-6 lead and never looked back.
Evangelista pushed kill just over the Highlander wall to extend the lead 11-8 and Zahariev followed it up with the set's only service ace. Lazor fueled the Patriot push with another strong kill at 15-12.
George Mason sealed the victory with a Highlander attacking error by Aleixo. NJIT challenged the call, claiming a Patriot had touched the ball, but after another officials' review the call on the court stood, and the Patriot bench stormed the court to celebrate their ranked win.
COACH'S CORNER
"I was very proud of the way our boys responded to last week vs. NJIT," said head coach
Jay Hosack. "That's a good team and we are putting our work in practice into use during matches."
UP NEXT
George Mason will rest Saturday and will host one more home game for the weekend on Sunday, March 1, when Dominican University of New York visits the RAC for the first time. The game is slated to start at 2 p.m. and will be
available to watch on ESPN+ here and can be
followed on Live Stats here.
