FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason men's volleyball team closed out the month of March by beating Saint Francis 3-1 Saturday afternoon at the Recreation Athletic Complex (RAC) and extending their home winning streak to two full months. With Saturday's win, the Patriots extended their home win streak to eight games, finished the month 8-1 (2-0 in conference) and have now won 10 of their last 11 games.
PATRIOT POINTS
- The Patriots had a better hitting percentage than the Red Flash, hitting .218 to their .174. For the second straight game, however, there was little separating the Patriots and Red Flash this afternoon, as they were virtually even in points (63.0 to 64.0), kills (47 to 49), service aces (six to six), blocks (10 to nine) and assists (40 to 46). Saint Francis did have the upper hand in digs, however, taking the edge 56 to 46.
- Sophomore pin hitter Aidan Weltin and junior outside hitter Robert Evangelista both had a team-high 13 kills. Weltin led the team in digs as well, recording 11.
- Senior middle blocker Elijah Lazor, sophomore middle blocker Alexander Lillie and Weltin were all tied with a game-high four blocks, along with Saint Francis' Brayden Gall and Kyle Charles
- Junior outside hitter Jackson Herbert had a game-high three service aces. Senior setter Georgi Zahariev, who had a team-high 37 assists, as well as Weltin and Lillie also contributed with one ace.
For the third consecutive weekend, George Mason (16-7, 4-2 EIVA) completed a weekend sweep, this time by beating Saint Francis (11-10, 5-1 NEC) in another two-hour long marathon that needed more than three sets to determine the winner. The Patriots have now won six games in a row and finish their non-conference schedule this season with a record of 12 wins and five losses.
SET 1: George Mason - 26, Saint Francis - 24
The first set required more than 25 points to find its winner, and it included nine tied scores and only one lead change.
The Patriots took the first lead of the game after an impressive 7-0 run in the middle of the set that featured a Red Flash service error and two attacking errors, two Weltin kills (one which came from a successful Patriot challenge at 15-12), a Herbert service ace and a triple block made by Evangelista, Lazor and Zahariev.
The Patriots won their second challenge of the day a few plays later. Instead of Saint Francis retaking the lead at 23-22 off of an Evangelista attacking error, Coach Hosack and the Patriot bench challenged the call, claiming that a Red Flash player had touched Evangelista's attack. After an official review, it was determined that the ball had in fact been touched, thus giving Evangelista the kill and the Patriots the 23-22 lead instead.
George Mason had a chance to take the set at 24-23 but was quickly tied after a Patriots service error. The Red Flash committed a service error the subsequent serve, and the Patriots put the 29-minute set away with an emphatic double block by Lillie and Weltin.
Saint Francis' Brady Stump led the way in kills with five, followed by Jackson Decker with four. The Patriots' firepower consisted of Weltin's four kills, Evangelista's three, and two kills each from Herbert, Zahariev and Lazor.
SET 2: George Mason - 25, Saint Francis - 21
The second set was the Patriots' strongest offensive outing of the day, hitting a game-high .281 as well as recording 13 kills for the second consecutive set. The Red Flash, on the other hand, hit .182 with 12 kills.
Stump led in all kills again, recording four. The senior outside hitter would have the most kills in the game with 17. The Patriot offense was more spread out, with Weltin and Evangelista taking three more kills, while Lillie, Lazor and Herbert knocked down two more kills.
Herbert and Zahariev scored the set's only aces as well. Zahariev recorded his service ace at 8-5, while Herbert did it at 17-10.
There were only three tied scores as well as two lead changes this period. At 3-3, the Patriots went on a 3-0 run and never looked back, pushing the lead to as high as seven.
SET 3: George Mason - 23, Saint Francis - 25
The Red Flash took the third set despite only hitting .125 compared to the Patriots' .194. The difference in the set was Saint Francis' 11 kills on only five service errors compared to George Mason's 10 kills on seven service errors.
Evangelista led all scorers with four kills, followed by Weltin with three and Saint Francis' Derek Piatek.
The set featured nine tied scores and three lead changes. The Patriots fought back to tie the set for the last time at 23, but the Red Flash took the next two points by way of kills by Samuel Myatt and Stump.
SET 4: George Mason - 25, Saint Francis - 21
The fourth and final set of the game was another 29-minute slugfest that featured three Patriot aces and a pivotal Lazor solo block at 13-12 that put the Patriots ahead and prevented the Red Flash from ever retaking the lead.
Though Stump recorded a game-high six kills in a single set, Evangelista, Weltin and sophomore outside hitter
Jack Lopez all collected three kills each. Lopez was the spark plug that jumpstarted the Patriots' final push to the end, as he was subbed in when the Patriots were behind 11-10 in the middle of the set and provided three crucial kills throughout his time on the court.
The Patriots clinched the match with a perfectly placed Weltin kill to the Red Flash's back corner in front of their bench.
COACH'S CORNER
"Another gritty win tonight for our team," said head coach
Jay Hosack. "We made some adjustments from last night, and they paid off. I am happy with where we stand right now as we control our own destiny moving forward."
UP NEXT
George Mason will remain home at the RAC and begin their final push in the EIVA schedule, starting with a series with Harvard. The Patriots' first game against the Crimson will be Friday, April 3, at 6 p.m., followed by a Saturday, April 4, 2 p.m. first serve.
