Feb. 2, 2006

Box Score

Columbus, Ohio - After reeling off seven consecutive victories to open the 2006 season, No. 15 George Mason (7-1) dropped its first match of the year on Thursday, losing three-games-to-one to No. 8 Ohio State (8-1) at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

The Patriots won the third game 30-26, and were competitive in all three games they lost, losing each game by a final of 30-28. Senior opposite hitter Shaun Powell led the attack, hitting .333 with 26 kills and eight digs in the match. The 26 kills tie Powell for the eight-best mark in a single match in the rally-scoring era. Powell already holds the single-match record for kills at Mason during the rally-scoring era with 39 at IPFW last season.

Reigning National and EIVA Conference Player of the Week Hudson Bates had another big night, joining Powell in the record books with 14 digs, good for the fourth-best mark at Mason during the rally-scoring era. Bates also had 14 kills and three block assists on the night.

Senior middle blocker Matt Steinfurth played well in the loss, hitting .688 with 11 kills on 16 errorless attempts to go along with nine block assists, while setter Bryan Newcomb tallied a match-high 59 assists.

Mason plays another ranked opponent tomorrow, facing No. 11 Loyola University Chicago (9-0) at 8 p.m. eastern time at Alumni Gym in Chicago, Ill.