Box Score Princeton, NJ – The #5 seeded Golden Eagles faced off with the #4 seeded Patriots of George Mason in the EIVA Conference Quarterfinal round.
The Basics:
Location: Dillon Gymnasium
Score: UC 0 GM 3
Records: UC 12-17 (5-7 EIVA), George Mason 16-12 (6-6 EIVA)
How it Happened:
The Golden Eagles quickly found themselves trailing in set one of the EIVA Quarterfinal round against familiar foe George Mason Patriots. Charleston trailed 5-1 to start the set but battled back to bring the set to 11-8 Mason leading. The Patriots then extended their lead to six, 15-9, but the Golden Eagles continued to struggle, Mason leading 22-15 later in the set. Now trailing by seven, Charleston began to battle back, cutting the deficit to just two, 23-21, but the Golden Eagles simply ran out of time and fell in set one 25-21 to the Patriots.
The first several points of set two were traded back and forth, Charleston looking to find their momentum in the match. The Golden Eagles and the Patriots continued to trade points and sideouts, Charleston with a slight edge 15-14 as the media timeout was called. After the timeout, the Patriots gained the lead for the first time in the set and Charleston was forced to call a timeout at 20-18. The timeout seemed to be successful in icing the server as Mason delivered a service error to give Charleston the point. On the next play, a Patriot set error gave UC the point, the teams tied at 20-20. Charleston then capitalized on the review system to overturn an out of bounds call, Max Nissen eventually being credited with a kill and Charleston taking the lead back, 21-20. An attack error by Mason then forced the Patriot head coach to call a timeout. The timeout worked in favor for Mason as UC suffered a service error, but on the next point, Braxton Francis ramped it up and got a middle kill to give UC the 23-21 lead. A service error for Charleston followed by a George Mason block tied the set back at 23-23. The teams then traded the next several points, but at 26-26, the Patriots were able to close out the set by securing the next two points to take the second set victory 28-26.
The third set was also close at the start, the teams trading points, but Mason pulled ahead slightly holding a lead at 15-11 over Charleston. Charleston cut the deficit as they scored the next two points, but Mason extended their lead once more, Patriots ahead 17-13. Charleston once again cut the deficit in half to bring the score to 17-15, but George Mason did not slow down, getting to twenty first and taking the lead 20-15. The Patriots reached match point with a 24-19 lead, but the Golden Eagles continued to fight, scoring the next several points and cutting the deficit all the way to 24-23, but the Patriots held on and scored the final point to close out the third set 25-23 and complete the match victory 3-0 over the Golden Eagles.
