FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart men's volleyball team was swept by George Mason in Eastern Intercollegiate Association volleyball action on Saturday night at the William H. Pitt Center, dropping the Pioneers to 4-6 in league play and 6-14 overall.

SHU could not get its offense going, hitting .000 percent in the first two sets and just .117 in the match. Aside from Taylor Bloomquist's .444 hitting percentage with six kills, no other Pioneer swung over .250 percent. Austin Arcala's ten kills led the team with Michael Comens adding eight.

George Mason (12-11, 6-4 EIVA) on the other hand hit .407 percent and nearly doubled Sacred Heart in digs, 40-22. Christian Malias led the way with 13 kills on .579 hitting and Paco Velez was right behind him with 12, falling just short of a double double with nine kills. Brian Negron had a match-high 38 assists and Johnny Gomez recorded 12 digs.

SHU looks to rebound on its western Pennsylvania road-trip next weekend, which begins on Friday at 7 pm at Saint Francis U.

How it Happened

• First Set (12-25)- The two teams traded the first four points before Mason established its lead with five of the next six points for a 7-3 lead, culminating with a Malias service ace. SHU crept as close as two three times, including at 9-7, before the Patriots used a 9-1 surge to run away with the opening set. Five of the points were on Pioneer mistakes before Malias closed the stretch with kill to make the score 18-8.
• Second Set (17-25)- It looked like it could be more of the same in set two when George Mason jumped out to a 6-3 advantage, but Sacred Heart came back with its best run of the night. The Pioneers used six straight points, four of which were Patriot errors, to take its largest lead of the match, 9-6. After GMU tied it at nine with three unanswered, SHU had three one-point leads as the teams traded six points in a row. Mason went back on top for the first time, 13-12, and the Pioneers tied it one last time at 13 before the Patriots took the lead for good. Sacred Heart got as close as 16-15, but four consecutive Mason points started an 8-1 flurry that included four Pioneer errors.
• Third Set (19-25)- In what ended up being the closest set of the night, the two teams traded the first eight points before George Mason tallied the next four and the Patriots would lead throughout. Sacred Heart could only manage to get within two twice, the latter of which came at 12-10 before Edgley and Malias teamed for back-to-back kills.