No. 3 MEN'S VOLLEYBALL vs No. 6 Princeton
WHEN: Wednesday, April 22
WHERE: Recreation Building (Rec Hall) | University Park, Pa.
RECORDS: George Mason (20-9, 8-4 EIVA); Princeton (7-14, 3-9 EIVA)
ALL-TIME SERIES: George Mason leads 23-21; The Patriots swept the series this season in Fairfax (
April 10 and
April 11)
LAST POSTSEASON MEETING: Princeton beat George Mason in the 2025 EIVA Tournament Semifinal (
April 24)
TICKETS: Click Here - Students from all six schools can get in free with their college ID
LIVE STATS APRIL 22: Click Here
WATCH (B1G+) APRIL 22: Click Here - B1G+ is a subscription site, but the paywall has been removed for all EIVA Tournament matches this week.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The George Mason men's volleyball team will enter the 2026 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) Tournament as the third seed after a 20-win, eight conference-win regular season campaign. They will face off against sixth-seeded Princeton on Wednesday, April 21, in the first round at Rec Hall at Penn State, the host school's court.
FINAL REGULAR SEASON EIVA STANDINGS
- No. 16 Penn State: 20-7 (12-0)
- No. 19 NJIT: 18-8 (9-3)
- George Mason: 20-9 (8-4)
- Charleston: 13-14 (4-8)
- Sacred Heart: 10-15 (3-9)
- Princeton: 7-14 (3-9)
- Harvard: 6-17 (3-9) - Did not make the tournament
2026 EIVA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22 - QUARTERFINALS
- No. 3 George Mason vs. No. 6 Princeton - 4:30 p.m.
- No. 4 Charleston vs. No. 5 Sacred Heart - 7 p.m.
THURSDAY, APRIL 23 - SEMIFINALS
- No. 2 NJIT vs. No. 3/6 Winner - 4:30 p.m.
- No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 4/5 Winner - 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, APRIL 25 - FINAL
- Semifinal winner vs. Semifinal winner - 7 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend (
April 17 and
April 18), George Mason (20-9, 8-4 EIVA) dropped back-to-back five set games to eventual regular season champions Penn State at Rec Hall. Despite the close losses, the Patriots finished the regular season with 20 wins, a milestone they have not achieved in 20 years.
The Patriots are now preparing for their 2026 EIVA Tournament run. Their first test will be against No. 6 Princeton, who claimed the final spot on the final day of the regular season with back-to-back wins against Harvard.
2026 Weekly Awards List
- Feb. 9: Aidan Weltin Named EIVA Offensive Player of the Week
- March 2: Georgi Zahariev Named EIVA Offensive Player of the Week & AVCA National Collegiate Men's Player of the Week
- March 9: Alexander Lillie Named EIVA Offensive Player of the Week
- March 16: Jackson Herbert Named EIVA Offensive Player of the Week
- March 23: Aidan Weltin Named EIVA Defensive Player of the Week
- April 13: Georgi Zahariev Named EIVA Offensive Player of the Week for the Second Time
2026 ALL-EIVA TEAM SELECTIONS
The EIVA released their end-of-season all-conference selections Tuesday afternoon.
Georgi Zahariev,
Aidan Weltin and
Alexander Lillie made it to the EIVA All-First Team, while
Robert Evangelista made All-Second and
Jackson Herbert was given Honorable Mention.
Ten Patriots were also named to the All-Academic team.
The release can be found in full here.
SCOUTING PRINCETON
Princeton (7-14, 3-9 EIVA) were picked to finish fourth in the
2026 EIVA Preseason Coaches Poll. The Tigers finished their non-conference schedule with a record of 4-5, but they struggled facing Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) opponents this year. Their highlight victory of the season came on March 10, when they beat No. 12 UC San Diego in five sets in La Jolla, California.
Before going into the final regular season weekend, Princeton was on the outside looking in, sitting in seventh in the conference standings and 1-9 in EIVA play, with their only win coming from a split weekend against Charleston (WVa.) on March 28.
Their final weekend against Harvard was pivotal, as they needed to win both games to overtake the Crimson and claim the final tournament spot. The Tigers did just that in Cambridge, Massachusetts, winning the first game 3-2 (April 17) and sweeping Harvard the following game (April 18).
On defense, junior middle blocker Tristan Whitfield leads the team in blocks with 79. He earned his second EIVA Defensive Player of the Week Award earlier this week after collecting two solo blocks, seven block assists and 14 total kills in the team's two must-win games.
Pin hitter Owen Mellon is the team's leader in kills with 237. The senior from Oakville, Ontario, who the Patriots did not see in action during their regular season matchup, had a career-high 26 kills in their five-set, must-win game over Harvard this past weekend.
Andrew Werner, the Tigers' other senior pin hitter, has the team's second-most kills with 208. The Phoenix, Arizona, native also leads the team in service aces with 21 and also tied his career-high in single game aces with three in their win over UC San Diego on March 10.
Junior setter Nolan Kelly leads the team in assists with 680. The El Segundo, California, product, who also leads the team in digs with 167, recorded his career best 53-assist game in the team's five-set loss to George Mason on April 11.
STAT LEADERS
PATRIOTS (29 games played) | TiIGERS (21 games played)
HISTORY WITH THE TIGERS
Dating back to
Feb. 26, 2005, the Patriots hold a slight 23-21 edge over the Tigers. Since 2022, the Tigers have had the upper hand, having won seven of the last 11 meetings.
George Mason won both regular season this year over Senior Day weekend in Fairfax. That weekend completed a 15-2 regular home season record by beating Princeton on Friday
(April 10) and Saturday
(April 11), winning their fifth-consecutive weekend sweep. The Patriots extended their current win streak to 10 games (which included seven straight EIVA wins) and their home win streak to 12 games.
Patriot streaks and milestones that were reached weekend:
- 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).
POSTSEASON HISTORY WITH THE TIGERS
The Patriots' 2025 season came to an end in the EIVA Tournament semifinals on
April 24 with a 3-1 score. Their previous postseason matchup was
April 19, 2018, when the top-seeded Patriots fell to No. 4 Princeton 3-1 in Fairfax, Virginia.
The last time George Mason beat Princeton in postseason play was over 20 years ago on
April 24, 2004. The Patriots beat the Tigers 3-1 at Dillon Gym in Princeton, New Jersey, in the EIVA Tournament quarterfinals.
UP NEXT
The winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup will face second-seed NJIT the following day, April 23. First serve against the Highlanders is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at Rec Hall.
