FAIRFAX, Va. – The Saint Francis men's volleyball team snapped a frustrating four-match losing skid with an impressive 3-1 victory against EIVA Tait Division rival George Mason, on Friday night in Fairfax, Va.

The Patriots' Brandon McLaughlin tied a rally-scoring era single-match school record with 14 blocks, but the Red Flash got double-digit kill efforts from three players to walk out with an exciting 30-24, 19-30, 31-29, 31-29 win.

Saint Francis moved its overall record back to .500, 8-8, and improved to 4-3 in the EIVA Tait. The Red Flash ended a seven-match road swing with a 2-5 record, and will now return to DeGol Arena with a 7 p.m. contest against Quincy on Mar. 11.

Junior Jordan Varee (Conneautville, PA/Conneaut Valley) (Conneautville, Pa. / Conneaut Valley) had 18 kills, one ace, two blocks and nine digs to lead SFU. Junior Alex Fortney (York, PA/Central York) (York, Pa. / Central York) played a pivotal role with 13 kills, eight digs and two blocks, and junior Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel) pounded 10 kills and added six digs and two blocks. Saint Francis was out-blocked 17.0 to 10.5 in the match, but held a .231 to .175 advantage in hitting percentage. Senior Shane Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny) dished out 48 assists in the win.

Ben Nichols had a match-high 19 kills for Mason, and Brandon Joyner had 50 assists.

The Patriots were able to tie the score twice during the first set, but the Red Flash never trailed in taking a 1-0 lead with a 30-24 victory.

Mason broke a 15-15 tie in the second set with an 8-0 run on its way to a 30-19 win.

After hitting .406 in the second set victory, Saint Francis thwarted the Patriots' attack in the rest of the way. Mason was held to a .237 hitting percentage in the third set and hit just .025 in the decisive Red Flash victory. SFU won both sets by the slimmest of margins, 31-29.

The Patriots fell to 6-4 overall, and 2-2 in the EIVA.