The men's volleyball team had its best passing match of the season last night in Rec Hall and swept past George Mason, 15-4, 15-5, 15-12, to open its Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association schedule.

The Lions (7-5) were led by Guillo Silva and Charlie Bertran, who had 23 and 22 kills, respectively. Jorge Perez added 18 kills and Todd Shirley had nine kills and a team-high seven blocks.

"It was probably the best that we have passed and the scores indicate that," Coach Tom Peterson said. "Everything was real good tonight. I think for the most part, it's as good as we have played."

"We were playing consistently, we were passing well and we stabilized our offense," Silva said. "We came out strong, we weren't tentative, everybody wanted to win, we were working for the same goal, and our passing was the key. Our offense ran well and our blocking improved a lot; we were touching a lot of balls. I think we just came out fired up to play these guys."

In the first game, the Patriots (10-8) cut the Lions' lead to 6-4 on a block by outside hitter Tom Rice. But Penn State scored four points in a row, forcing a George Mason timeout with the score 10-4. The break didn't help though, as Penn State cruised to a 15-4 win, with the final two points coming on Bertran kills.

"We didn't come out ready to play," said George Mason coach Wayne Stalick. "There's not a whole lot I can say. They controlled the tempo of the game from start to finish and we never got out of the chutes."

"They didn't seem to be as pumped up as what I expected them to be," co-captain Shirley said. "They played fairly well, but I'm sure later on this season they're going to come back at us really strong."

The Patriots looked as if they would turn things around in game two, getting off to a 5-1 lead behind the play of outside hitters Robbie Bailey and Jason Robertson. The Lions stormed back, however, taking a 6-5 lead due in part to the dominant play of Bertran and Silva.

A George Mason timeout proved futile as Penn State continued to roll as Bertran made it 7-5 with a service ace. In all, Penn State scored 14 points in a row after trailing 5-1.

Game three started slowly and featured a number of sideouts and service errors by both teams.

"As usual, we were up and then we decided to let down a little bit," Silva said. "Our feet aren't moving quite as fast and we're trying to see if they're going to give us the game."

"We were really concentrating for a long time and just let up just a little bit, where we started reaching for balls and missing a few serves," Peterson said. "But our passing still was good enough that (we) had a great offense that overcame anything."

George Mason held leads of 8-7 and 11-10 in game three, but the Lions fought back both times and eventually won 15-12. Match point came on a kill by junior setter Scott Miller, who finished with eight digs and four kills.

"The only thing bad about winning in three straight is that we've got to make sure that that does not communicate to us that we've got their number," Peterson said. "They can play much better than that."

Notes: The Lions play Manitoba at 7:30 tonight at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Penn State also plays on Manitoba Friday night in Rec Hall and on Saturday night at Conestoga Valley High School. . . . "Manitoba is probably the best team in North America," Peterson said. "They're a different kind of team than most any team that we will ever face. They're just really big, tall, big people. If we don't pass the ball well against them, then it's going to be a long evening."