Mason men's volleyball cruises to straight set victory in home opener

Mason men's volleyball defeated Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras 25-16, 25-15 and 25-17 on Thursday night (photo by John Irwin).

On Thursday, the Mason men’s volleyball team hosted the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras for their 2014 home opener.

The University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras received the opening point of the first set on a back-and-forth volley that mustered a subsequent audible cheer from a large contingent of University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras fans that made the trip to Fairfax. The rest of the game, however, was dominated by Mason as they took the match by a final score of 3-0.

Early in the first set, Mason and UPRRP engaged in close battle with neither team gaining separation. Knotted at 10, though, Mason feed off of four UPRRP errors in the latter stages of the set to cruise to a 25-16 victory in the first set.

The second set started off in similar fashion, as UPRRP took the first point, but redshirt freshman Jack Wilson quickly brought Mason back with four consecutive points and two kills. Mason’s best run of the night came shortly after.

With momentum clearly in Mason’s favor, the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras coaching staff called a timeout down by three (9-6) with the idea that it would ease the team’s nerves and allow them to rebound from a fading performance. Instead, the quick break in action afforded Mason the opportunity to reassess how to effectively attack the opponent for the remaining time left in the set—and they did.

After UPRPR took the initial point after the timeout, Mason responded by taking 12 of the next 17 points to bust the doors open en route to a 25-15 set victory.

The Patriots’ dominance spilled over into the third set, as they controlled action for a 25-17 set victory.

Still adjusting to a group of new players replacing a senior-laden team from a season ago, Mason was led by Wilson’s team-high 14.5 points and freshman Radoslav Popov, the reigning EIVA Offensive Player of the Week.

Mason, now 2-2 on the season, returns to the court tonight to take on NCAA Division II foe Barton College from Wilson, NC. The Bulldogs are 2-4 in 2014, most recently dropping a 3-1 contest to fellow EIVA member NJIT. They will follow tonight’s game with another matchup against the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras on Saturday.