Conference News
George Mason Faces Princeton in EIVA Semifinals on Thursday
George Mason Faces Princeton in EIVA Semifinals on
Thursday
Patriots will participate in the EIVA Semifinals for the 10th
consecutive season
FAIRFAX, Va. (April 27, 2010) – Third-seeded George Mason
will take on second-seeded Princeton in the semifinals of the EIVA
Championship Tournament on Thursday, April 29 at 5:30 p.m. at Rec
Hall in University Park, Pa., the home of top-seeded Penn State.
The Patriots advanced to the EIVA Semifinals with a 3-0 sweep of
the sixth-seeded Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders in the quarterfinal
round of the tournament on Saturday, April 24.
Thursday’s match will mark the Patriots’ 10th
consecutive appearance in the semifinals of the EIVA Championships.
Mason’s opponent, Princeton, advanced to the semifinal round
with a 3-1 win over Sacred Heart on Saturday evening in Princeton,
N.J.
The winner of Thursday’s semifinal match will advance to the
EIVA Championship match on Saturday, May 1 at 7 p.m. The winner of
Saturday’s championship match will earn the EIVA’s
automatic berth in the NCAA Division I Men’s Volleyball
Championships in Stanford, Calif. on May 6-8.
Mason (8-18) had lost its previous two meetings against
Rutgers-Newark this season, but the Patriots avenged those losses
in the quarterfinal round of the tournament. George Mason downed
the Scarlet Raiders on the strength of an offensive attack that hit
.326 as a team in Saturday’s match. Sophomore middle blocker
Lance Rogers, a 2010 First-Team EIVA All-East selection, hit .800
with eight kills and a match-high six total blocks in the win.
Rogers ranks second in the EIVA in hitting percentage (.453) and
fifth in blocks per set (1.31).
The Patriots face a similar situation in the semifinals as they did
in the quarterfinals. Mason is winless in two meetings with
Princeton this season. The Patriots lost to the Tigers in five sets
on April 2 and in three sets on April 11. Senior middle blocker
Jeff McCown ranks among the conference leaders in several
statistical categories for the Tigers. McCown is fifth in hitting
percentage (.425), eighth in blocks per set (1.12) and ninth in
service aces (0.34).
The second semifinal match between fourth-seeded Springfield
College and host Penn State will take place at 8 p.m. on Thursday.
Springfield College advanced to the semifinals with a 3-1 win over
fifth-seeded Saint Francis (Pa.) in the quarterfinal round. Penn
State received a bye to the semifinal round after posting the best
record in the conference during the regular season with a perfect
10-0 mark in conference matches. The Patriots hold a 1-2 record
against Springfield College this season, and are winless against
Penn State.








