The George Mason men's volleyball team (13-15, 7-9 EIVA) fell in a four set (32-34, 20-25, 25-21, 21-25) battle in the first round of the EIVA Championship tournament to No. 3 NJIT (16-10, 10-6 EIVA) on Wednesday afternoon inside of Rec Hall.
Mason started the match neck and neck with NJIT. A 5-0 run by the Highlanders forced the Patriots to use their first timeout of the game. Mason used a 17-12 run to tie the game at 21-21. Each team went point for point, each team not willing to concede the set. Eventually, NJIT comes away with the win in the first set 34-32.
In the second set, the Patriots came away with the first point. The teams went back and forth before Mason called their first timeout at the 10 but were only able to score two more points in the game. NJIT takes the win in the second set 25-20.
In a crucial third set, Mason jumped out to a slight 14-12 advantage. A kill from Jack Bolz followed by one from Lucas Little forced the Highlanders to take a timeout. The Patriots kicked it into high gear, going on a seven-point run followed by a NJIT seven-point run of their own to come within two points of the Patriots. Mason added to their total, but two back-to-back kills from the Highlanders put them within one of the Patriots. Mason halted the late rally from NJIT and took the set 25-21.
NJIT came out blazing hot in the fourth set, taking the early 4-0 advantage. The Patriots rallied back to tie the game at 6-6. Both teams traded points before NJIT started to pull away after the teams were knotted at 16-16. Mason came within two points for the remainder of the set, but NJIT comes away with the 25-21 win in the set and 3-1 win in the match.
"Although the season didn't end the way we wanted it to, I could not be prouder of the way our boys fought all year long and got better all along the way," said Head Coach Jay Hosack. "There were a lot of young guys that got playing time this year, and that's not the norm. Our future looks very bright, and I am excited to see what this team does next year.. one last time: WE ARE MASON!!"
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Redshirt sophomore Jack Bolz led the offensive momentum for the Patriots, recording a team high 17 kills.
- Bolz went on to hit 17-3-31 in the match for a .452 hitting percentage.
- Sophomore Omar Hoyos also helped to lead the offense for Mason, tallying 16 kills for .300 hitting (16-7-30).
- Sophomore Colin Heath led the team on the defensive end, tallying a team high and match high in digs (8).
- Freshman Troy McDonald led the team and match in assists, recording 47.
- Freshman Lucas Little and Bolz led the team in blocks, each tallying four.
- Senior Richie Hoff recorded Mason's lone solo block.
- NJIT outhit Mason, 38.3 percent to the Patriots' 24.8 percent.
- Mason tallied 54 kills and NJIT tallied 55 kills in the match.
- Mason recorded three service aces while NJIT tallied seven.
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