The No. 9 Penn State men's volleyball team defeated George Mason (30-25, 30-27, 28-30, 30-25) on Friday to open their EIVA play.

The Nittany Lions (2-2, EIVA Tait 1-0) trailed 15-13 at the halfway point of the first game.

"We missed six serves and we were down just 15-13," said Penn State coach Mark Pavlik.

"Their outside hitters were getting some good swings, but the rally scoring forces them to be patient."

The Lions then were able to take the lead with three straight points after the technical timeout, punctuated with an ace by sophomore Carlos Guerra. George Mason (2-1, EIVA Tait 1-1) fought back to take a lead of 21-18. The Patriots couldn't hold it as Penn State tied it up at 25 and then rattled off 5 straight points to take the first game. Neither team hit exceptionally well in the first game as Penn State outhit George Mason .294 to .172.

Game two saw junior outside hitter Jason Wight collect 5 kills in the early going of the game to keep Mason in the match. Mason once again led at the technical timeout by the score 15-14.

"We knew they were right side dominant," said Pavlik. "Wight's got a good arm, he's quick. But, we got him twice late in the second game."

After the break the game went back and forth, Penn State and George Mason were tied at 23. Then the Lions went on a 4-0 run on the strength of two Guerra aces. The Nittany Lions closed out the game at 30-27.

"We didn't work as hard as they did in the beginning," said sophomore Zeljko Koljesar. "They wanted it more, but we were still able to pull out the first two."

George Mason jumped to a 4-1 lead in game three and Penn State's service game was faltering. The Patriots lead was five at the break and the seven service errors by Penn State in this game wouldn't allow them to stage another comeback. George Mason held on to win game three and prolong the match with a 30-28 win.

"We know we are better than they are," said junior setter Jose Quinones. "We let them play with us for a little and we let them get too far ahead."

George Mason carried over their confidence from game three and went back and forth with Penn State. The Lions had a 15-14 advantage at the technical timeout. Mason came out and tied it up at 15, when junior middle hitter Josh Briggs, who started due to Zach Slenker's injury, dove into the crowd saving a ball.

The Lions got the ball back over the net, but George Mason managed to win the point. Briggs dive energized the team and crowd as Penn State rattled off three straight points after that.

"It is a game of momentum," said Koljesar.

"It (Briggs' dive) could have happened for them and the game could have been a different story."

Penn State went on to win game four 30-25, they outhit George Mason .640 to .351 in the game.

For the match Penn State got 51 of its 71 kills from junior John Mills, Koljesar, and Guerra. They outhit George Mason for the match .414 to .311. Wight led all hitters with 26 kills.

Setter Jose Quinones fought through an injured thumb and had 56 assists.

"I think I didn't have a good match," said Quinones.

"My location and precision wasn't great, but Zeljko and Carlos bailed me out."

Penn State returns to action against league foe Juniata with an 8:00 p.m. match on Friday at Rec Hall.