Men’s volleyball drops rematch with George Mason

In a rematch against the George Mason Patriots (10–12, 2–4 EIVA), the men’s volleyball team (10–11, 4–3) failed to repeat last week’s win in a shutout loss, 3–0. Lacking their previously dominant attacking strategy, the Tigers’ service errors combined with frequently missed attacks paved the way for the Patriots’ retribution.

The opening set foreshadowed George Mason’s dominance. The Tigers trailed early 7–3, and they struggled to defend against the Patriots’ forceful kills. Heavy efforts from junior outside hitter Ben Harrington aimed to decrease the deficit, and with a few service and attack errors from George Mason, the gap decreased to 10–8.

Taking advantage of more attack errors from the Patriots, Princeton finally caught a lead at 14–13. Struggling to maintain their offense, though, the Tigers obtained six out of their next eight points through George Mason’s own errors, a system that proved unsustainable as the Patriots took the first set 25–22.

The onset of the second set seemed to spark hope within the Tigers as they took the lead 6–3 as a result of George Mason’s unforced errors and a couple of kills from senior outside hitter Alexander Mrkalj. As the Patriots amplified their own intensity to retaliate with their own kills, the teams entered into a point-by-point battle filled with unforced errors from both teams, particularly during their respective service games.

During the tight battle, sophomore right-side hitter Nyherowo Omene was part of a Princeton offense that struggled to maintain consistency. Such inconsistency proved to be the reason for the Tigers’ fall, as their own errors gave George Mason the second set 25–22 and the upper hand to increase their lead to 2–0.

In an effort to match George Mason’s level of play, the Tigers somewhat found their footing in a continuation of their point-by-point contest. This campaign proved short as the Patriots once again took the early lead 11–7, and numerous points went to George Mason as a result of the Tigers’ own miscalculations in their attacks and service points.

The Tigers fought to reestablish equilibrium, but more Princeton errors and a few successful kills from the Patriots steadily depleted the Tigers’ energy and grew George Mason’s lead to 23–16. With the Patriots two points away from winning, last-minute offensive efforts from Omene and Harrington were insufficient as the Patriots took the final set 25–18.

The Tigers travel south next weekend in a matchup against Charleston (21–2, 5–1 EIVA), where they will hope to overcome the currently second-place team in their conference.