Feb. 25, 2006

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In a match featuring the final two unbeaten teams in the EIVA Tait Division, No. 14 George Mason (13-3, 4-1 EIVA Tait) dropped a three-games-to-zero decision to No. 9 Penn State (9-4, 6-0 EIVA Tait) on Saturday afternoon at Rec Hall in University Park, Pa. The loss snapped the Patriots' six-match winning streak and dropped Mason to second place in the division behind the Nittany Lions.

Penn State won by scores of 30-18, 30-24 and 30-21 to remain the only undefeated team in the division. A pair of senior outside hitters, Matt Proper and Kevin Wentzel, led the Nittany Lions' attack. Proper's 14 kills led Penn State, while Wentzel chipped in 11. Senior setter Dan O'Dell dished out a match-high 43 assists and led the Nittany Lions with six digs.

Mason opposite hitter Shaun Powell, a redshirt senior from Toronto, Canada, led all players with 17 kills in the match. He also led Mason with six digs. Nobody else broke double digits in kills for Mason as the team struggled to put the ball away in the match. The Patriots hit .200 as a team, far lower than the Nittany Lions' team hitting percentage of .394.

The Patriots will attempt to get back on the winning track next weekend when they play No. 10 Ball State at 7 p.m. on March 3 at John Linn Memorial Gym. The match will be Mason's first home match in over a month. George Mason last played at home against the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez on Jan. 28 at the Patriot Games Tournament, sweeping the match in three games.