UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Despite splitting the first two sets, the Saint Francis men's volleyball team fell to the George Mason Colonials, 3-1, in the EIVA Championship on Saturday night at Rec Hall. The Red Flash fell, 14-25, 25-17, 18-25 and 19-25.

The loss concludes the season for the Flash, who finished with a 19-10 record, the second-most in program history. With the win, George Mason advances to the NCAA Tournament. Their opponent is to be determined.  

Jeff Hogan (Northern Cambria, Pa./Northern Cambria) led the Flash with 16 kills, while Stephen Braswell (Manchester, Pa./Northeastern) added 11. Daniel Ford (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) finished with a match-high 44 assists and tallied 10 digs.

"We've talked about making history this year. We made a lot of history with the amount of wins we had against top 15 teams, the amount of wins in a season, and coming here and making the championship game and two wins against Penn State is pretty big," said head coach Mike Rumbaugh.

Jack Wilson finished with a match-high 22 kills, while Johnny Gomez finished with 20 kills for the Patriots.

George Mason jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the opening set. Two net violations by GMU pulled SFU within two at 8-6. A Patriots 4-0 run forced the Flash to take a timeout with GMU leading 12-6. SFU made it 14-8 on a kill by Hogan. Mason took a nine-point lead at 23-14 on an attack error by Saint Francis. A Christian Malias kill gave Mason the first set, 25-14. George Mason outhit Saint Francis .526 to .077 in the set.

Both teams exchanged service early in the second set, but a ball handling by the Patriots and a Mike Marshman (Glenmont, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) service ace were apart of a 3-0 run for the Flash and took a 8-5 lead. Saint Francis went on a 7-2 run to take a 15-8 lead. George Mason scored three-straight to close with four at 15-11. Two kills from Hogan gave the Flash a 22-16 lead. A Keith Kegerreis (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg) solo block gave Saint Francis the second set victory, 25-17, to tie the match at 1-1.  

After trading points early, George Mason would take an 8-4 lead in set number three. A Kegerreis kill and a Mason attack error pulled the Flash within one at 10-9. The Patriots would take a 17-12 lead after a 6-2 run. George Mason scored the last three points to take the third set, 25-18, and go up two games to one.

In the clinching set, the Patriots would take a 10-8 lead after both teams traded points in the early going. A Brandon Buck (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) kill tied the score at 11-11. Three-straight kills by Wilson gave Mason a 16-13 lead. A 3-0 George Mason run forced Saint Francis to call their last timeout of the set with the Patriots leading 19-14. Saint Francis started to chip away, and pulled within three at 20-17, but the Patriots continued to attack.  A kill by Malias sealed the set and match, 25-19.

The 2016 EIVA All-Tournament Team:
Dom Edgley – George Mason
Jack Wilson – George Mason
Brian Negron – George Mason
Mike Marshman (Glenmont, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) – Saint Francis
Jeff Hogan (Northern Cambria, Pa./Northern Cambria) – Saint Francis
Chris Nugent – Penn State