FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The George Mason Men's Volleyball team rallied from a 24-21 first set deficit and not only took the opening period but also take the match against Sacred Heart in straight sets Friday evening at the William H. Pitt Center. The Patriots have now won 20 consecutive games against the Pioneers dating back to 2014 and are currently on their third three-game win streak this season.
PATRIOT POINTS
- Aside from aces, where Sacred Heart had the upper hand four to one, the Patriots edged out the Pioneers in hitting percentage (.488 to .209), points (54.0 to 42.5), kills (46 to 34), blocks (seven to four), assists (45 to 34) and digs (29 to 20).
- Sophomore pin hitter Aidan Weltin had a game-high 17 kills. Junior opposite hitter Jackson Herbert had the second-most kills on the afternoon with 11.
- Senior middle blocker Elijah Lazor had a game-high six blocks and scored the team's only service ace in the third set.
- Senior setter Georgi Zahariev had a game-high 36 assists and had the second-most blocks in the game with four, tied with Sacred Heart's Jaron Popp.
- Redshirt junior libero Robby Nardoni and junior outside hitter Jackson Herbert both had six digs, which were game-highs. Weltin had five as well.
- Sophomore middle blocker Alexander Lillie had the highest hitting percentage in the game with .778 with seven kills, an assist, block assist and dig.
After a hard fought first set that took George Mason (13-7, 3-2 EIVA) to the brink, the Patriots scored the next five points against Sacred Heart (7-9, 0-3 EIVA) and ultimately cruised to a 3-0 win over the Pioneers. With tonight's win, the Patriots have a winning EIVA record for the first time this season.
SET 1: George Mason - 26, Sacred Heart - 24
The first set saw the Patriots fall behind quickly, losing the first five points of the stanza. Unfazed, the unrelenting Patriots chipped away at the deficit and tied the set for the first time at 19-19.
The Patriots and Pioneers traded points until 21-21. Sacred Heart then went on a 3-0 run to take a commanding 24-21 lead. George Mason went on to score five unanswered points and steal the set away from the Pioneers, thanks to a Weltin kill, a Pioneer attacking error and back-to-back double blocks from Lazor and Zahariev.
Herbert and Weltin both had six kills, the most in the set between both schools. Although the Pioneers had four service aces, George Mason swung .316 with 17 kills compared to Sacred Heart's .194 and 13.
SET 2: George Mason - 25, Sacred Heart - 15
The second set was George Mason's strongest of the evening, hitting a blistering .833 compared to Sacred Heart's .167. The Patriots committed zero attack errors while the Pioneers made six. Finally, George Mason had three blocks to Sacred Heart's zero.
Weltin took control of the set, recording seven kills. No one else had more than three.
George Mason never fell behind in the set, only being tied once at 1-1 before going on a 5-0 run to separate themselves from the Pioneers. The three blocks in the set were by Lazor and Evangelista at 6-1, Lazor and Zahariev at 14-6 and Lillie and Evangelista at 18-9.
SET 3: George Mason - 25, Sacred Heart - 17
The Patriots kept the pressure up in evening's final set, hitting .500 on 14 kills, a service ace and two blocks compared to the Pioneers' .269 on 11 kills and no aces or blocks
Sacred Heart's Aleksa Mandic recorded the most kills with five, followed by Carter Lyons with four. The Patriot spread the offense, with Weltin and Herbert collecting four kills, Lillie scoring three, Zahariev scoring two and Lazor recording one including a service ace at 13-10.
The Pioneers briefly took their first lead since the first set at 6-5, but the Patriots went on a dominating 16-5 run to comfortably take the lead. The Green & Gold eventually secured the set and match at 25-17 on a Pioneer service error.
COACH'S CORNER
"I could not have been more proud of how our boys played tonight!" said head coach
Jay Hosack. "We have had quite the adversity on our bus trips this year, and this one started out no different. But the way they blocked out the noise, they just remained composed. We were down 24-21 in that first set, and we never said die. We made Mason Nation proud tonight!"
UP NEXT
George Mason will close out the weekend tomorrow with a second game with the Pioneers at the William H. Pitt Center. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m. and can be followed on
live stats and
ESPN+.
