Trip'd Up At Home

By Broadside Correspondent Fernanda Ferreira

The George Mason University men’s volleyball team lost their first home conference game against the Juniata College Eagles last Thursday at the Field House. The 14th-ranked Patriots fall to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in conference games and the Eagles improve to 6-3, 3-2.

The last time the Patriots had a home match was nearly a month ago. The Patriots won three of four on the road.

Despite missing out on four match point opportunities, Juniata won the points that mattered most. Two players of Juniata blocked senior opposite hitter Kyle Gramit’s shot as the Eagles wrapped up the first set with a 34-32 victory.

The Patriots responded after their close first set loss by leading the entire second set. Mason had a comfortable advantage of four points throughout the set. Blocking was a key factor in their victory. Junior outside hitter Ben Nichols and senior middle blocker Brandon McLaughlin contributed 11 block assists of 15.5 total team blocks against 7.5 by Juniata.

Despite their solid blocking, the Patriots were not able to put away the Eagles easily in the second set. Juniata closed within one point at 28-27. But Mason was able to sideout and inch their way past the Eagles 30-28 in the second set.

Sophomore setter Brandon Joyner and freshman middle blocker Lance Rogers started the third set for the Patriots as the team was looking to change the starting line. However, Juniata was on top of their game as they were stepping up their defense, chasing after balls and showing an effective attack on offense. After a kill by Eagles main outside hitter Zach Wanner, Mason head coach Fred Chao asked for a timeout to try to bring the Patriots together. It was too late in that set as Juniata won the third set 30-20. The Eagles recorded a .500 shooting percentage.

Junior setter Ryan Kwiatkowski returned to the starting line for the Patriots in the fourth set. The Patriots started strong, led by Rogers’ blocks and McLaughlin’s kills. Mason kept playing hard, but it was not good enough as the Eagles had the lead for the entire fourth set.

Juniata had match point after a kill by Wanner, but Mason did not back down. The Patriots stepped up their game with a kill by Nichols from Kwiatkowski. After a good swing by McLaughlin, followed by an attack error by the Eagles, the Patriots cut a four-point deficit to just one at 29-28. Juniata called a timeout to quiet Mason’s rally. A kill by Evan Halteman concluded the match.

Three Patriots recorded double-digit kills. Gramit led Mason with 17, followed by Nichols’ 16 and McLaughlin’s 11. However, Gramit committed seven of the team’s 16 service errors. Sophomore libero Eric Lucas led the Patriots with 12 digs.

“We know we are a better team. We just had an off day.” said Gramit. “When our pass and serve game was on, we had brilliant moments. But when it didn’t happen, it was tough to recover.”

Wanner led all players with 30 kills and added five digs. Anthony Damiano had a game-high 15 digs for the Eagles.

The Patriots lost their second consecutive match after winning the previous four.
Chao pointed out that the Patriots did not keep the same game level throughout the match.

“The team was inconsistent,” said Chao. “We have been battling to pass through some injuries that compromise the starting line.”

The team looks to overcome those injures and come back stronger in next weekend’s home matches against St. Francis University and Rutgers-Newark.