FAIRFAX, Va. – Senior Night at the Recreation Athletic Complex (RAC) began with a ceremonial first serve by
Liam French at 5 p.m. and ended with a match-clinching, fifth-set winning ace by
Elijah Lazor at exactly 8 p.m., as the George Mason men's volleyball team won in a five-set thriller against Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) opponent Princeton. With Saturday's win, the Patriots extended their home win streak to 12 games and have now won 14 of their last 15 games.
PATRIOT POINTS
- The Patriots have reached 20 wins in a season for the first time since 2008. It is now the fourth time since 2000 that the program has reached that milestone (2001, 2006, 2008).
- George Mason finished the regular season home schedule with a 15-2 record, tying their 2008 season for most home wins in a single season.
- George Mason's 12-game home winning streak is currently the third-longest in program history.
- George Mason has won 10 games in a row, their first time since the 2024 season and currently the fifth-longest streak in program history.
- The Patriots' current seven-game conference winning streak is currently tied for the fourth-longest in program history (tied with 2008, 2006, 2002 and 1995-96).
- The Patriots put up more points (85.5 to 82.5), kills, service aces (nine to three) and assists (67 to 61), while Princeton had the edge in hitting (.244 to .264), blocks (nine to 18) and digs (47 to 59).
- Senior setter Georgi Zahariev had a career-high 59 assists, breaking his previous record of 53 set twice on Feb. 27 of this year and April 19, 2023.
- Junior outside hitter Robert Evangelista had a career-high 19 kills, breaking his previous record of 17 set twice on March 27 of this year and March 1, 2025.
- The Patriots tied their season high of service aces in a game with nine for the third time (March 15 vs. FDU and March 21 at Sacred Heart). Sophomore pin hitter Aidan Weltin, junior opposite hitter Jackson Herbert and Zahariev had two service aces each, while Alexander Lillie, Elijah Lazor and Evangelista each had one.
In the final regular season home game at the RAC, George Mason (20-7, 8-2 EIVA) defeated Princeton (5-14, 1-9 EIVA) in a battle of attrition that lasted five hard-fought sets. The Tigers did not go down without a fight, showing tenacity at every point. The Patriots have now won 10 games in a row and have also won seven-straight EIVA matches that date back to their 3-1 win over No. 19 NJIT on
Feb. 27.
SET 1: George Mason - 25, Princeton - 22
The Tigers outhit the Patriots .222 to .188 in the first set, but the Patriots had four service aces. George Mason also went three-for-three in challenges, which proved to be the difference as the Patriots took the opening period by that many points.
Princeton's Ryan Vena led all kills with five, but no one else on the Tigers' side other than him had more than two. For the Patriots, Evangelista led the team with four, followed by Lillie and Weltin with three and senior outside hitter
Hayden Karpinski with two.
The first challenge of the set came when the Tigers took a 16-12 lead after a Weltin attacking error. Head Coach
Jay Hosack challenged the call for a possible net violation which proved to be successful and reversed the previous score to 15-13.
The second challenge came after Vena scored a kill to make it 18-16 Princeton's favor. Coach Hosack challenged again, claiming his players never touched the senior middle blocker's attack. After review, the initial ruling on the floor was overturned, leveling the score to 17-17.
The third and final challenge of the set happened after Princeton took the lead at 21-20 on what was originally called another Evangelista attacking error. Coach Hosack called for a third challenge and was proven to be correct once more, reversing the call and giving the Patriots the 21-20 lead instead.
The Patriots never let go of the lead following that reversed call, and they went on to take the 29-minute long first set, 25-22. Evangelista tallied two more kills, Lillie scored a kill for the 24
th point and the set-clincher was a Karpinski and Lillie double-block.
SET 2: George Mason - 27, Princeton - 29
The second set was the longest of the evening, lasting 37 minutes. Both of Princeton's set wins this evening needed more than 25 points.
Weltin had the set-high eight kills, followed by Princeton's Tristan Whitfield, Ryan Vena and Andrew Werner with five each. Karpinski notched four more kills on the evening, giving the senior six kills on the night.
The second set was tightly contested, with 10 ties and four lead changes. Both schools recorded their best hitting percentages of the evening in the period as well, with George Mason hitting at .429 clip and Princeton at .395.
The Tigers had the largest lead of the set, which was only three points at 21-18. The Patriots went on a 5-1 run to retake the lead 23-22. After trading points on back-to-back serves, the Patriots were at the doorstep of their second win of the night.
Princeton then rallied and flipped the score to 26-25 their favor. Karpinski leveled the score again with his fourth kill of the set, but after Vena's fourth kill and Weltin's eighth to make it 27-27, the Tigers pulled away and scored the next two points by way of another Vena kill and a Whitfield set-clinching kill.
SET 3: George Mason - 25, Princeton - 23
George Mason got back into the winning column and claimed their second victory.
Jackson Herbert was subbed in and contributed with a team-leading three kills (tied with Weltin and Evangelista) as well as key back-to-back service aces at 11-10 and 12-10 to separate themselves from the Tigers.
The Tigers were always within striking distance of the Patriots; the largest lead the Green & Gold enjoyed in the period was just four points at 15-11. Princeton rattled off three quick points to narrow the lead to just one, prompting the Patriot bench to call their first timeout of the set.
George Mason separated themselves from the Tigers for a brief moment at 21-18. The momentum shifted to Princeton's favor by scoring three points in a row, with the third point of that run being a Nolan Kelly solo block off of an Evangelista attack. Lazor's subsequent kill gave the Patriots the lead again, but Ambrose Engling quickly leveled it with his fourth kill of the set.
The Tigers then took the lead late in the set via a Patriot attacking error at 23-22, their first lead since 9-8. The Patriots showed resilience, as they went on to score the final three points of the set by way of an Evangelista kill, a Weltin kill and a Tiger attacking error by Engling.
SET 4: George Mason - 26, Princeton - 28
The fourth set was the most tightly contested of the evening. The 36-minute set had 15 ties and four lead changes.
Evangelista led the way with six kills, tying with Engling as well. Weltin had the second-most with four, followed by Princeton's Werner with three.
The Patriot offense threw everything at the Tigers, who were able to block and dig their way out of countless occasions in the set. The Princeton defense displayed heart all game, recording 18 total blocks. Whitfield, Ethan Wells and Nolan Kelly all head four blocks each, followed by Vena with three, Engling with two and Werner with 1.5.
SET 5: George Mason - 15, Princeton - 13
For the third time this season, the Patriots went the distance and played a fifth set. Though they were outhit .211 to .172, the Green & Gold had more kills (eight to seven) and aces (two to one).
No service ace was bigger than the final point of the night, where Lazor scored an ace to win the set and clinch the match, 15-13. The Patriot bench stormed the court and celebrated their historic 20
th win of the season.
UP NEXT
George Mason will close out the regular season next week with a two game series against No. 15 Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania. The Patriots' first game against the Nittany Lions will be Friday, April 17, at 6 p.m., followed by Saturday, April 18, with a 3 p.m. first serve.
