LORETTO, Pa. (Feb. 4, 2011) - The Saint Francis men's volleyball team struggled to get into a groove early on against the George Mason Patriots, and ultimately were unable to mount a comeback effort for the second straight match as they fell 3-0 (19-25, 22-25, 24-26) at DeGol Arena on Friday.

The loss drops the Red Flash to 3-4 on the season, 0-2 in the EIVA Tait.  The Patriots improve to 6-2 overall, 2-0 in the EIVA Tait.

When asked about his team's performance, Red Flash coach Michael Rumbaugh had just one word on his mind.

"Flat," said Rumbaugh.  "After last week's win over Loyola, we didn't come out with the energy I thought we would.  We weren't able to pick it up soon enough."

The Patriots jumped on SFU early in the first set; George Mason hit .276, in comparison to Saint Francis's .129, and the Red Flash did not record a single team block as the Patriots took the opener 25-19.  Both the offense and defense improved for the Red Flash in the second set, though, as SFU hit .320 and out-blocked George Mason 3.5 - 1.0.  After Colin Sherwin, Eric Syty (Clarence, NY/Clarence), and Logan Patterson tied the set at 16-16 on a block, Mason scored two quick points to make it 18-16 and force a Flash timeout.  Though Syty and Patterson would stave off elimination with a block to make it 24-22, the Patriots got a timely kill from Eric Lucas to take the set and the 2-0 lead.

Saint Francis fell behind 20-12 in the third set, but showed great resolve and pulled closer to George Mason.  After Ryan Williams (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour)' service ace made it 20-16 the Patriots called timeout, but the Flash run continued until the margin was just 22-21.  Mason led 24-23, but Patterson staved off match point with a kill to tie it at 24 apiece.  However, the Patriots notched two straight points to take the set 26-24 and the match 3-0.

Patterson led the offense for the Red Flash with 13 kills and an impressive .421 hitting percentage, and also led the team with four blocks.  Chad Martson (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) started at the other outside position and added seven kills and a .357 hitting percentage.  Williams had 35 assists, and John Wappler (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) had the match-high with 10 digs.