Mason men's volleyball opens EIVA play with a 3-1 win against nemesis Princeton
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The George Mason University Patriots men's volleyball team opened up their Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association season with a 3–1 win against the Princeton Tigers at home. The Patriots came out fighting in the first half, winning the first set 25-21, and they wouldn't look back from there.
Mason started out a little rocky, falling behind the Tigers early in the second set, but were able to regain their momentum and win the set 25-19.
Senior Mark Jones carried the Patriots to their (3–1) victory over Princeton with 18 kills and 20 points. Jones and senior Max McFarland led the team in defense with 11 digs each.
The Patriots didn't have the same energy in the third set that they had
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| Photo by John Irwin |
in the first two sets, dropping the set 21-25. In between the third and fourth set, Coach Fred Chao regrouped his players.
"We had to re-check our attitude," said Chao. "We always have a good mentality. If you have an aggressive attitude to get things done, then you get them done."
Going into the fourth set the Patriots were eyeing their first win in the EIVA season, and they would not let the loss of the third set get in their way. With an adjusted approach in the fourth set, the Patriots were hungry for a win and so were the fans.
From the first serve of the fourth set, the fans were on their feet cheering for a home win. From there the Patriots maintained a steady lead and wouldn't let the Tigers come close to taking the match on their home turf. Mason ended the fourth set with a 10-point lead (25-15).
The win boosted the Patriots overall record 3-5 and 1-0 in conference play. On Friday, Feb. 15 Mason will host Rutgers (2-1) for their second EIVA conference play.
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