Momentum ended in Penn State’s favor in a five-set thriller vs George Mason

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Coach Mark Pavlik said in his weekly media availability that this would be a good old-fashioned George Mason-Penn State match.

That it was.

The Nittany Lions won 3-2 in a five-set thriller featuring massive momentum swings.

It started pretty even, with both teams swapping points, including the offenses functioning at a high level.

The momentum swung in favor of the Patriots after two Omar Hoyos aces to boost their lead to 18-14. This included one of them hitting an insane 73 miles per hour.

The Nittany Lions never regained the lead and dropped the first set 25-22 to the Patriots.

However, the momentum would only stay in the favor of George Mason for a short time.

The blue and white started fast in the second set including a 14-2 run in the middle of the set to pull away and take full momentum from the Patriots.

Owen Rose was a huge part of the second set, filling the stat sheet with multiple kills and blocks in what would turn into a career night.

The Nittany Lions tied things back up, winning set two 25-13.

“We had a game plan going in to run the middle third…It was fun, it was cool,” Rose said.

The third set once again went back and forth and eventually flipped back to the Patriots side.

“We just try to bring things back to the basics,” George Mason coach Jay Hosack said.

It was once again the tough serving from Hoyos that helped the Patriots get back to the basics.

Jack Bolz put away the third set after some strong serving and getting the final kill to seal the set as George Mason won 25-23 and took a 2-1 lead in the match.

The momentum would once again flip as the teams swapped sets throughout the first four.

John Kerr solidified his presence in this set while the Nittany Lions capitalized on huge errors from the Patriots.

“We just know how to keep our composure and know that it doesn’t matter how big of a run they get on… We were able to put away some big swings,” Kerr said.

Kerr finished the match with 23 kills while hitting .524 throughout the match.

The Nittany Lions never let the momentum shift again, commanding the fourth set and carrying that over into the final set.

It was a concerted effort by the entire team to put away the Patriots.

Kerr, Rose and Toby Ezeonu each had big swings to keep the momentum on the side of the blue and white.

Penn State would end the match on Kerr’s 23rd kill of the night.

This victory clinched the EIVA Regular Season Championship and locked in the EIVA tournament location, Rec Hall.

“It was a fun one, let’s do it again tomorrow,” Pavlik said.

The teams return to Rec Hall at 4 p.m. Saturday for a rematch. Despite both teams locking in their positioning for the EIVA tournament next week, expect to see the typical players play.

Andrew Deal is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email asd5765@psu.edu