April 17, 2007

FAIRFAX, Va. - Redshirt freshman opposite hitter William Price earned his third Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) Tait Division Player of the Week award of the 2007 season, the conference office announced on Tuesday. With the regular season now complete, Price and his George Mason teammates will open up EIVA Championship Tournament play on Saturday, April 21, hosting a quarterfinal match at John Linn Memorial Gym against a still undetermined opponent at 7 p.m.

Price was a major factor in helping the Patriots secure the third seed in the EIVA Tournament this past weekend, closing out the season with two consecutive three-game wins to finish the season with an 11-9 overall record and 7-5 mark in conference matches. Against East Stroudsburg on Friday, Price recorded a match-high 18.5 points on 12 kills, three aces and six blocks. He followed up that performance against Princeton the following night with 19.5 points and 17 kills on a hitting percentage of .441. Price has been a standout all season long for Mason, ranking among the national leaders in points per game, kills per game and aces per game. The Laytonsville, Md. native is third in the country in points per game (6.62), tied for third in kills per game (5.49) and second in aces per game (0.63).

The third-seeded Patriots will host the winner of the match between seven-seed NJIT and six-seed East Stroudsburg. NJIT and East Stroudsburg play a first round match at East Stroudsburg on Wednesday, April 18 at 7 p.m. Mason won both its matches with East Stroudsburg this season, but lost to NJIT in their only meeting of the year.

Tickets to Saturday's EIVA Championship Tournament quarterfinal match will cost $5 for adults and $2 for youth, senior citizens and George Mason students.