Penn State men’s volleyball (9-14, 6-3 EIVA) defeated George Mason (13-11, 4-5 EIVA) 3-2 in Fairfax, Virginia, Friday night. The Nittany Lions have now won three straight matches.

It was an all-around effort by Penn State. Starters Will Kuhns and Matthew Luoma got it done at the net with 11 and nine kills, respectively. But the Nittany Lions went to the reserves throughout and Carter Dittman and Miller Trubey made an impact.

Dittman had five kills and hit .375 and Trubey had seven kills, including the match-winner, and hit .235.

How It Happened

A handful of errors by George Mason gave Penn State an early first-set lead. After Liam French’s kill, two Patriot errors and a solo block from Sean Harvey put the Nittany Lions up 3-1. George Mason then recorded four kills, but an error followed each to keep Penn State up by two.

The Nittany Lions made an error but Harvey notched the first kill of the match for Penn State and Will Kuhns followed. French got another kill and so did Kuhns but the Patriots cut the lead down to one after a kill from Jackson Herbert and an ace from French.

George Mason committed its eighth error of the match but answered with a kill by Evan Snodgrass. Gio Collazo tied the set for the Patriots at 11-11 and the two teams kept it close by splitting the next six scores until a rare bad set from Ryan Merk gave George Mason a 15-14 lead at the first media timeout.

The Nittany Lions quickly took back the lead, but only temporarily. A Patriot error, followed by a Snodgrass kill, a Matthew Luoma kill, and a Gaige Gabriel solo block made it 17-16 Penn State until an error and a block by Snodgrass and Herbert. However, the Nittany Lions forced George Mason to call a timeout by going on a 3-0 run with two kills from Owen Rose and another by Luoma.

A Penn State error and a solo block from Alexander Lillie tied the set again at 20-20. The Nittany Lions forced the Patriots to use their final timeout of the set after a Luoma and Harvey kill. The two sides split the next six scores, giving Penn State the first set 25-23.

The second set started with more back-and-forth play. The next six scores were shared between both sides until Penn State took a 4-3 lead off a Kuhns solo block. But the back-and-forth started again with six more scores being split between the two sides. A service error and a French ace gave George Mason an 8-7 lead.

The Patriots’ lead grew to 11-9 after Collazo, Herbert, and French got kills and the Nittany Lions only scored off of a Luoma kill and a French error. Penn State then tied the set again after a Luoma kill and a Collazo error.

George Mason scored three of the next four with kills from Collazo and Herbert and a solo block by French. Penn State scored twice off of an error and a Kuhns kill before a Michael Schwob error led to a media timeout. After the break, both sides traded the next 10 scores as the Patriots led 21-19.

A Harvey kill and a Luoma block tied the set for the Nittany Lions but French and Herbert got the lead by each getting a kill. Penn State used a timeout down 23-21 but Snodgrass got a kill, forcing the Nittany Lions to use another timeout. The end of the second set continued to be drawn out after an error and a Kuhns ace made it 24-23 and George Mason used a timeout.

But after the three timeouts, French ended the second set 25-23 in favor of the Patriots.

Penn State jumped to a 4-2 lead to start the third set with kills from Luoma and Kuhns, and two Patriot errors. The Nittany Lions maintained the lead until a 4-2 for George Mason, consisting of two French kills and two Nittany Lion errors, tied the set at 6-6. The next four scores were split until Penn State extended its lead after a Gabriel kill and a Patriot error.

However, George Mason answered with a 5-0 scoring run that featured a Collazo kill, a Schwob bad set, a Lillie solo block, a Harvey error, and a Herbert kill for a 13-10 lead. Penn State called a timeout but the Patriots proceeded to take three of the next four scores off of two Penn State errors and another Lillie solo block.

Miller Trubey shrunk the lead to four with a kill but George Mason scored two more times with an error and a French kill. The Patriots took a 20-14 lead after sharing the next four scores and another French kill forced Penn State to use its final timeout of the set.

The Nittany Lions stayed alive by taking three of the next four scores. Herbert got a kill to make it match point and Trubey answered with a kill but Trubey committed a service error right after and George Mason took the third set 25-18.

Penn State jumped to another early set lead with a Kuhns ace, a Gabriel kill, and a Carter Dittman kill for a 3-1 lead. The next six scores were split between the two sides until a Collazo error made it 7-4 Nittany Lions and the Patriots used an early timeout. After the break, a bad set and a Dittman ace grew the lead to five points.

George Mason answered with a kill from Herbert and an ace from Collazo but Penn State went on a long 7-1 run that featured kills from Kuhns, Gabriel, and Schwob, a block from Kuhns and Gabriel, an ace from Schwob, and two French errors. The Patriots used their last timeout of the set down 16-7.

The Nittany Lions maintained the momentum through the timeout with a solo block by Trubey but George Mason found the scoring column again after a Schwob error. The next six scores were split again until Penn State went on a 5-1 run to close out the set in blowout fashion.

The run featured kills from Rose and Schwob, a block from Rose, and two George Mason errors for the 25-12 fourth-set win.

The first four scores of the final set went both ways until the Nittany Lions took the lead off of a kill by Trubey. The back-and-forth play picked up again as the next six scores went each way. George Mason then took four of the next seven points, with the help of two French kills, for a 9-8 lead.

The Patriots fended off the Nittany Lions for the next six scores until Penn State called its only timeout of the set down 12-11. A Collazon service error and a Trubey kill gave the Nittany Lions the lead and forced George Mason to use a timeout. Rose then got a block as George Mason used its last timeout.

Lillie made a block to bring the score within one but Trubey sealed the match with a kill to take set No. 5 15-13.

Takeaways

• Penn State continues to climb the EIVA standings. The Nittany Lions now hold the lone spot for second place in the conference, 1.5 games back from Princeton.
• The Nittany Lions are getting hot at the right time and George Mason is not. After being in first place a few weeks ago, the Patriots have dropped four straight matches but Penn State has now won three straight.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will stay in Virginia to face the Patriots again at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 12. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.