Men's Volleyball Blasts Ramblers for Sixth Straight

By Broadside Staff Writer Will Scullion

After a slow start Friday night, the 11th-ranked George Mason men’s volleyball team rebounded to defeat the Loyola (Ill.) Ramblers 3-2 at the Field House for their sixth win in a row.

“It’s always a tough match,” George Mason coach Fred Chao said. “Over the years they’ve been real good and they’ve hurt us real bad. It’s good now that we can compete.”

Junior outside hitter Kyle Gramit led the Patriots (15-6) in kills with 21 and 18 digs, giving him a double-double. Outside hitter Hudson Bates also had a big night with 20 kills and six digs. As a team, the Patriots had 71 kills and 50 digs.

The Ramblers (13-11) out-gained Mason in kills with 74. Middle blocker Nick Lamoureux led the Ramblers with 23. Michael Morice, Ian Anderson and Kris Berzins also had double-digit kills for the Ramblers.

Defensively, the Patriots out-blocked the Ramblers 15.5-4.5.

“We played our game which is block, defend and get some transition plays,” Chao said.

The match started slowly for the Patriots who lost the first game 30-21 and were down 12 at one point.

After that the Patriots were able to turn it around, winning the second and third games by scores of 30-27 and 30-24.

“It wasn’t so much adjustments, tactical or strategic, they needed to start playing and when they did, the game turned around,” Chao said.

Mason had a chance to put the Ramblers away in the fourth game but were unsuccessful and lost 30-27, forcing game five.

Mason started the fifth game strong, jumping out to a quick 8-4 lead. From there they were firmly in control, with Loyola never getting any closer than three. The Patriots won the game 15-10 and in doing so won the match.

During the heated match, both sides received yellow cards from the referees. Bates received a yellow card for excessive celebration after a kill in the third game.

This was the second meeting of the year between the Patriots and the Ramblers. The Patriots won the first meeting, in Chicago, 3-1.

Prior to this season, Mason was 1-5 against the Ramblers.

The Patriots look to extend their winning streak to seven on Saturday when they play Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne in Fairfax. The Patriots have played IPFW twice this season. In the first meeting, on Jan. 25, the Patriots lost 3-2 in Fort Wayne, Ind. In he second meeting, Feb. 22, Mason won 3-2. The second game took place in Springfield, Mass.