Men's Volleyball News

NO. 15 PENN STATE DOWNS PATRIOT MEN'S VOLLEYBALL, 3-1

April 14, 2000

The George Mason University men's volleyball team fell 1-3 (15-12, 2-15, 1-15, 11-15) to No. 15 Penn State in their final regular season match. Penn State improves to 16-13 overall and continues its unbeaten streak in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association's (EIVA) Tait Division at 13-0. With the loss the Patriots fall to 9-15 overall and 5-9 in the EIVA.

The Nittany Lions opened up game one building a 3-0 lead. They led by as much as four, at 8-4, before the Patriots came surging back. The Patriots tied it up at 9-all off an Art Kulans (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) kill. Mason took its first lead of the game at 12-11 off a Kulans block solo, and went on to win 15-12 off a Kulans kill. The Nittany Lions struggled with its serving in game one, posting 16 service errors.

Penn State came back to dominate game two and three, allowing just three Patriot points in both games. In game two the Patriots came as close as 2-4, with a block assist by senior middle blocker Scott Smith (Midlothian, VA/Midlothian) and sophomore outside hitter Jason Wight (Springfield, VA/West Springfield). Penn State went on to win game two 15-2, outhitting Mason .800 to .200, with just one error in 20 attempts.

In game three the Nittany Lions were up 10-0 before the Patriots posted their lone point with a kill by junior outside hitter Andre Melo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/TC Williams- VA), who leads the nation in service ace average. But the Patriots wouldn't post an ace tonight, let alone another point in game three. Penn State took the game, 15-1.

Game four was kept close with three lead changes and six ties. The Patriots were up 6-4 when the Nittany Lions put together a four-point scoring run, capped off by an Eric Houston (Lititz, PA/Warwick) kill to go up 8-6. Mason tied it up again 10-10 off enthusiastic play by freshman middle blocker James Claney (Northbrook, IL/Glenbrook North) who posted two straight block assists and a kill. The score tied up again at 11-all, with Penn State eventually taking the 15-11 win off a block assist by freshman middle blocker Zach Slenker (Glen Rock, PA/Susquehanna) and sophomore setter Jose Quinones (Bayamon, PR/Colegio Marista).

The Patriots had four players with double-figure kills, led by Claney with 16, hitting at a team-high .462. He also added a team-high five blocks. Moore finished with 15 kills, four digs and three blocks, while Smith had 11 kills, four blocks and three digs. Kulans tallied 10 kills, nine digs and a block solo. Sophomore setter Jonathan Hanners recorded a team-high 66 assists, seven kills, five digs and three blocks, hitting at .500. Wight had nine kills, four digs and a block, while Melo posted six kills, one dig and a block. Sophomore libero Dave Mattas registered a match-high 11 kills.

Penn State was led by junior opposite hitter Tim Hoffman (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin) with a match-high 25 kills, on .629 hitting. He added an ace, five digs and four block assists. Freshman Carlos Guerra (Reynosa, Mexico/UMAN) posted 23 kills and a match-high three service aces, while both senior Adam Whitescarver (Deltona, FL/Deltona) and Quinones tallied a match-high eight block assists. Quinones also posted a match-high 77 assists.

Tonight the Patriots honored both their seniors, Moore and Smith, prior to the match as well as taking a moment of silence in honor of former George Mason athlete and men's volleyball coach Uvaldo Acosta who passed away in 1998.

The Patriots return to action next weekend in the EIVA Volleyball Tournament. The winner earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Final Four.