Match Stats
- George Mason def. McKendree 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-16)
- George Mason moves to 6-9 (2-5 EIVA); McKendree falls to 6-12 (2-4 MIVA)
- Fairfax, Virginia
- Attendance: 136
- Match Stats
After a mid-season swoon that has seen the formerly-ranked George Mason drop 9 of their last 10 games, the Patriots showed some spark on Friday with a 3-0 hammering of McKendree.
George Mason hit .632 as a team, which is the third-best output by any team in the country this season. That included 14 kills, 2 aces, and 3 blocks from Jack Wilson (.667 hitting percentage).
McKendree’s Andrew Schnittker hit .375 with 7 kills to lead the Bearcats.
Press Releases
Courtesy George Mason Athletics:
FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University’s men’s volleyball team found its winning ways again by sweeping McKendree on Friday night in the first ever meeting between the two programs.
MATCH NOTES
-Mason made history against the Bearcats by hitting program-best .632 as a team, committing only four attack errors on the night. This is the fewest errors for the Patriots under head coach Jay Hosack and is one fewer than the five they committed in the season opener at Belmont Abbey.
-Hosack’s team dominated the Bearcats in every single component of the game except one – service errors. Despite committing two more than their opponent, the Patriots’ 11 service errors on the night are tied for the second-fewest by the team this season and are the fewest by Mason since Jan. 27.
-Redshirt senior opposite hitter Jack Wilson was the only player to finish the match in double digits, grabbing 14 kills on .667 hitting. Wilson also contributed an unlikely assist and two of the Patriots’ season-high 12 service aces as well as three digs and three blocks defensively.
-Six of the eight Patriots who hit the floor against McKendree hit above .450, with junior setter Brian Negron (32 assists, 2 kills, 1.000 hitting), redshirt senior middle blocker Graham Gresham (3 kills, .750 hitting, 2 blocks), and freshman outside hitter Sam Greenslade (9 kills, .692 hitting, career-high 5 service aces) being most efficient in attack.
-McKendree’s .254 hitting was above the average by Mason’s opponents but could not match the Patriots’ historic performance. Andrew Schnittker (.375 hitting, 2 digs) led the Bearcats with eight kills while Will Frank (.235 hitting) had seven kills. McKendree’s setter Pasquale Fiduccia also had a strong night – he grabbed 23 of the Bearcats’ 27 assists and matched Negron’s two kills and 1.000 hitting.
-Mason’s outstanding attack efficiency limited the Bearcats to only 12 digs in the match, five of them under libero Zach Thompson’s name. His counterpart on the other side of the net, senior Johnny Gomez, picked up five digs as well. However, the Patriots were equally impressive in distributing the defensive duties and all but one player picked up at least one dig.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-McKendree’s only block of the first set got the Bearcats on level terms at 6 all in the opening set, but Mason scored eight of the next 10 points to force a McKendree timeout at 14-8. Gresham and Wilson kept the service pressure on the opposition high after the timeout and an ace by the latter gave Mason its first double-digit cushion in the match, 19-9. Little changed for the remainder of the set, in which the Patriots hit .647, and shortly after a kill from Wilson did the inevitable, closing the set at 25-13 in favor of Mason.
-Two kills by Frank and one from Schnittker gave McKendree its only three leads of the match early in the second set, but Mason responded with a 5-0 run on sophomore outside hitter Kyle Barnes’ serving sequence to get back in the driver’s seat, 7-3. Mason scored as many from the second ten points in the set as it had from the first ten, hence doubling its advantage with a Greenslade ace and forcing a Bearcat timeout at 14-6. Two plays after the action resumed the Patriots were up by double digits thanks to another ace from the freshman, 16-6. Rather than riding the advantage, Mason fired another cylinder up and made McKendree’s life even harder when a solo block by Negron and kill by redshirt sophomore middle blocker Langston Payne (5 kills, .571 hitting, 2 service aces) contributed to the Patriots’ biggest leads in the match, 22-10. Schnittker and Will picked up kills late on as the Bearcats outscored the Patriots 4-3 for the remainder of the set, but that had little to no effect on its final score, 25-14 to Mason.
-Consecutive errors from McKendree put Mason in the lead in the third set and the Patriots never looked back, soon doubling up on the Bearcats with an ace from Payne, 10-5. The lead reached its peak at nine at 19-10 on an ace from Wilson – one of five for Mason in the set – before McKendree went on its match-best 3-0 run with two kills and a block assist from Brendan Schmidt (2 kills, 4 blocks), 19-13. Payne, Greenslade, Negron, and Wilson all contributed kills as Mason scored four of the final five points of the match to complete the sweep at 25-16 and to put an end to the Patriots’ five-match skid.
NEXT ON THE COURT
Mason’s busy weekend continues on Saturday evening with Coker coming to town for another non-conference matchup. First serve is at 5 p.m. in the RAC.
Courtesy McKendree Athletics:
(Lebanon, Ill. Mar. 3) – The McKendree University men’s volleyball team dropped a non-conference road match to George Mason University Friday evening in Fairfax, VA. The Bearcats fell by scores of 25-13, 25-14, and 25-16.
The loss drops McKendree to 6-12 on the season. The Bearcats return to action Saturday in Loretto, PA against Saint Francis University at 7 p.m. EST.
Senior opposite Andrew Schnittker (Arlington Heights, IL/Buffalo Grove) paced McKendree with eight kills. Sophomore outside hitter Will Frank (Moro, IL/Edwardsville) finished second on the team with seven kills and a pair of blocks. Senior middle hitter Wyatt Patterson (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) added five kills on .444 attacking. Junior setter Pasquale Fiduccia (Hanover Park, IL/Glenbard North) tallied 23 assists to go with three digs and one block. Junior middle blocker Brendan Schmidt (O’Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) recorded two kills and a team high four blocks, and sophomore libero Zach Thompson (Defiance, MO/Francis Howell) notched five digs for the Bearcats.
Frank put down a pair of kills and Patterson added one of his own, but the Patriots were able to take an 8-7 lead to open the match. George Mason put down the next three points to move ahead 11-7 before a 5-0 run busted open the set at 16-8. Schnittker and Frank each tabbed another kill but it was not enough as the Patriots marched to a 12 point win in set one.
Frank tallied two more kills to give the Bearcats a 3-2 lead to start set two. George Mason rallied with a 7-1 run to jump ahead 10-4 before another 4-0 run put the set out of reach at 16-6 as the Patriots took a commanding 2-0 lead heading into the third set.
Patterson, Frank, and Schnittker each scored in the early stages of the third, but McKendree couldn’t find an answer for George Mason as they led 11-8 before a sandwiching a pair of aces around back to back kills to move ahead 16-8. Schmidt put down a pair of kills as part of a 5-2 run as the Bearcats pulled within six points at 21-15, but the Patriots countered with four of the final five points to complete the three set sweep.
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