Missed Opportunities Haunt Men's Volleyball

By Connect Mason Sports Reporter Carlos Silen

It was any body's game at the Field House where the Ball State Cardinals dropped the No. 14 George Mason Patriots 3-2 in a decisive fifth-set match. With two game point opportunities for Mason, the Cardinals came from behind to win 15-17.

“Well, scoring wasn’t happening,” said George Mason coach Fred Chao. “We simply made more mistakes at more important times.”

Ball State evened their record 6-6 with the come-from-behind win, leaving Mason 5-3 overall, and 1-1 in Tait Division play.

Kyle Gramit led the patriots with 31 kills and 17 digs for the match. However, more impressive was Ball State’s net presence with 25.5 blocks for the match.

Trailing 33-32 in the first game, the Patriots made three-straight points to earn an early 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals then came to clinch the second game 24-30 after a decisive four-point run when the game was tied at 22.

In the third set, Mason tied the game at 25 after being down 8-15. Then, back-to back attacks by junior Hudson Bates and sophomore Ryan Kwiatkowski put the Patriots up by two and gave way to their 30-26 win.

The Cardinals then took an early 19-12 lead in the fourth-set after a 7-0 run. The Patriots came back to tie the score at 22, but lost the game 26-30, evening the teams 2-2.

Ball State carried their momentum late into the fifth set, tying the game at 14 with two match points for Mason on the line. Bates stopped a two-point run with his 14th and final kill of the match. The Cardinals then made three straight points to give them the win.