UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The George Mason men's volleyball team's 10-game winning streak and seven-game conference win streak came to an end, as they lost to No. 15 Penn State, 3-2, Friday evening at Rec Hall. With Friday's defeat, the Nittany Lions secure the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) regular season title, as well as the top seed in next week's postseason conference tournament, which will be now held at Penn State's home court.

PATRIOT POINTS

• The Patriots put up more blocks (12 to 9.5) and had fewer service errors (20 to 25), but the Nittany Lions had a better hitting percentage (.155 to .308), as well as more kills (41 to 62), service aces (one to four) assists (36 to 52) and digs (42 to 44).
• Sophomore pin hitter Aidan Weltin had a team-high 12 kills and a game-high 11 digs. Juniors Robert Evangelista and Jackson Herbert had the second-most kills on the team with eight.
• Sophomore middle blocker Alexander Lillie had a team-high .667 hitting percentage as well as seven kills. He also had a game-high five blocks, tying Penn State's Owen Rose.
• 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 penultimate regular season game, George Mason (20-8, 8-3 EIVA) had a 2-1 lead over No. 15 Penn State (19-7, 11-0 EIVA) heading into the fourth set, but they unfortunately could not close out the game, as the Nittany Lions handed the Patriots their first loss since March 7 as well as their first five-set loss since their season opener on Jan. 10. This is the third consecutive game in which the Patriots lost to the Nittany Lions in five sets, dating back to last season's two-game series in Fairfax. The loss also snaps the Patriots' fifth-longest win streak in program history (10 games) and their fifth-longest conference winning streak (seven games).

SET 1: George Mason - 16, Penn State - 25
The Nittany Lions had a strong opener this evening, hitting .462 to the Patriots' .158. 

Other than a brief tie at 1-1 due to a Penn State service error, the Nittany Lions paced the Patriots throughout the set, never losing the lead. Penn State jumped out to an 11-6 lead before George Mason called their first timeout.

Matthew Luoma had four kills and Sean Harvey had six kills in the set. The two attackers kept constant pressure throughout the set as well as the game, as Luoma recorded a game-high 23 kills and Harvey had the second-most with 20.

The Patriots took their second timeout of the period after the Nittany Lions went on another 6-2 run, pushing the lead up to 17-8. The distance between the two would remain at nine, as the opening set ended after both schools scored eight points each.

SET 2: George Mason - 25, Penn State - 22
The second set was where the Patriots found their rhythm, taking their first win of the day by dominating the defensive side of the game and shutting down the Nittany Lion offense. George Mason recorded five total blocks (one solo) to Penn State's zero as well as held them to a game-low .061 hitting.

The opening stages of the second set remained close, as the Nittany Lions held a slim 9-8 lead over the Green & Gold. Momentum shifted entirely to the Patriots' side soon after, as they went on a 6-0 run to take the lead and never let it go.

Penn State got as close to 21-19, but the Patriots did not lose composure. Herbert and Weltin provided the following two kills, and Penn State committed two late-game errors to hand the Patriots their first set win of the evening.

SET 3: George Mason - 25, Penn State - 23
George Mason kept the momentum going into the following set, scoring a team-high 13 kills and posting their second-straight victory. The Patriots held the Nittany Lions to just .094 hitting and prevented them from recording an ace.

Penn State only held the lead once; after being down the majority of the set, they briefly held a 15-14 lead going into the media timeout. The Patriots regained the lead due to back-to-back Nittany Lion errors. 

George Mason would take the lead, and Penn State would quickly level it.  It happened four more times at 17-17, 18-18, 22-22 and 23-23.

The Patriots would pull away and take the third set thanks to back-to-back Nittany Lion errors.

SET 4: George Mason - 18, Penn State - 25
Penn State regained control of the match starting with the fourth set. Going wire-to-wire in the set, the Nittany Lions hit .500 as well as recorded a game-high 16 kills (they also put up 16 in the first set), while the Patriots could only muster nine kills on .273 hitting

The Nittany Lions jumped to a 4-0 lead, which included three kills and a service ace. The Patriots slowly chipped away at the deficit thanks to kills by Weltin, Lillie and Elijah Lazor. They got as close as 11-9, but the sustained Penn State kills and untimely Patriot errors stalled the rally.

Lillie recorded a solo block late in the set, but Penn State eventually pulled away and won 25-18.

SET 5: George Mason - 6, Penn State - 15
For the fourth time this season, the Patriots went the distance and played a fifth set. Unfortunately, George Mason never quite found their footing in the deciding set. The Patriots hit -.091 with four kills compared to Penn State's game-high .750 and nine kills.

Penn State shut out the Patriots in blocks and service aces, while they put up four total blocks and an ace of their own.

The final three points of the game were all scored by the Nittany Lions, which consisted of a double-block a kill and a Patriot attacking error.

UP NEXT
George Mason and Penn State will play their final regular season game tomorrow April 18, at 3 p.m at Rec Hall. The final game will determine the Patriots' seeding in next week's EIVA Tournament: a win will secure them a No. 2 seed and a first-round bye, but a loss could potentially mean a No. 3 seed designation and a first-round game played on Wednesday. April 22. The game will be broadcast on BigTen+ and can be followed on Live Stats.