PATRIOT POINTS
- The Patriots put up more points (54.5 to 50.5), kills (41 to 35), aces (six to four) and assists (39-35) than the Highlanders
- Sophomore pin hitter Aidan Weltin and junior outside hitter Robert Evangelista both recorded double-digit kills on the evening with 11 and 10, respectively.
- Sophomore outside hitter Jack Lopez, who also had the third-most kills on the team with nine, recorded the team’s only solo block in the second set.
- Senior setter Georgi Zahariev had game-highs in assists (36) and digs (5, tied with Bruno Figueiredo of NJIT)
Though two of the three sets played at Newark were closely contested, George Mason (6-6, 1-2 EIVA) faced a tough match against No. 19 NJIT (9-5, 4-0 EIVA). The Patriots recorded two more aces than the Highlanders but 11 more service errors and seven more attacking errors.
SET 1: George Mason – 28, NJIT – 30
The first set was tightly contested. Aside from a brief moment in the early middle moments of the set, neither team could get more than three points of separation from one another. The Patriots were down 13-9 before rattling off the set’s only four-point run to level the score. NJIT would retain the lead, however, due to a Patriot service error.
The Patriots, having to play catch up most of the set, tied the score four times before finally taking their first lead at 21-20. They had a chance to put away the Highlanders in the first set at 24-23, 27-26 and 28-27, but they ultimately failed to do so due to two of those three key moments being soured by Patriot service errors.
NJIT rallied and put away George Mason by scoring the last three points. The first were kills from Wiktor Nowak and the set-clincher was a group block by Parker Moorhead and Alex Heins
SET 2: George Mason – 19, NJIT – 25
The second set saw NJIT maintaining their momentum, racing to an early 7-1 lead with contributions from Highlander freshman outside hitter Aleixo, who recorded eight of his game-high 14 kills in the set. George Mason fought back with a series of kills, including two from Lopez and one from Aidan Weltin, narrowing the lead to 8-5.
Aleixo remained a force for the Highlanders, helping extend their lead to 19-14 with three more kills in that span. Despite a late push from the Patriots, featuring a kill by Alexander Lillie and a block by Lopez, NJIT took hold of the set by going on a 6-3 run in the set’s final nine points that was capped by Aleixo’s four kills.
SET 3: George Mason – 23, NJIT – 25
In the tightly contested third set, both teams combined for a total of 25 service or attack errors. Unfortunately, the Patriots were responsible for 17.
Similar to the first set, the score was neck and neck, with neither team getting more than three points’ worth of breathing room. With the exception of George Mason scoring the first point, the Patriots would not retake the lead until 15-14 after going on their only three-point run of the set thanks to a Lillie kill, an attacking error by Nowak and a Georgi Sahariev service ace.
The two schools traded shots until it was tied at 21, where errors plagued Patriot play down the stretch. The Highlanders took the match-clinching set by going on a 4-2 run in which all four points were Patriot errors.
COACH’S CORNER
“We made a lot of service and attack errors tonight.,” said head coach Jay Hosack. “Starting down that many points per set is really tough to get back in it. Yet we lost two of those sets by two points. If we only made three-fourths of those errors, we go up 2-1 and it’s a new game. We have some work to do, and we find our rhythm.”
UP NEXT
George Mason will finish out the weekend slate tomorrow, as they will head to Hackensack, N.J., for one game at FDU. The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. and can be followed on live stats here and will be broadcast on NEC FrontRow here.
