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Opposite John Kerr delivered one of their best performances of the season to ensure No. 8/6 Penn State would have home court advantage throughout the EIVA Tournament.
Kerr had a match-high 23 kills on a .524 attack percentage as Penn State defeated No. 16 George Mason 22-25, 25-13, 23-25, 25-18, 15-13 on Friday in University Park, Pennsylvania, to clinch the EIVA regular season title and the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament.
Kerr had a season-low one attack error and did not commit that attack error until the fourth game against second-place George Mason (17-8, 6-3 EIVA).
The opposite opened the match with a game-high seven kills in the first game. Kerr also in the decisive fifth game led all players with five kills, including the match-winning kill to prevent the game from going into overtime.
This was the third time this season Kerr finished with more than 20 kills. Kerr entered the final weekend of the regular season in the nation’s top 20 and third in the EIVA with a 3.64 kills per game average.
Freshman setter Michael Schwob guided the offense to out-hit George Mason .418 to .252.
The Nittany Lions (20-6, 9-0 EIVA) did not commit more than three errors in any of the five games highlighted with zero errors and a match-best .600 attack percentage in the second game. In addition, Penn State in the finale had one error and hit .500.
Three Nittany Lions had double-digit kills in front of a home crowd of 1,042 people
Along with Kerr, middle attacker Toby Ezeonu finished with 13 kills on a match-best .706 attack percentage. Middle attacker Owen Rose added 13 kills and hit .600.
Rose also led all players with seven blocks. Penn State in the opener of this two-match series finished with 12 blocks – 10 more blocks than George Mason.
George Mason opposite Jack Bolz had a team-high 19 kills on a .302 attack percentage, while outside attacker Omar Hoyos contributed 13 kills.
This loss ended the Patriots’ 11-match winning streak. George Mason, though, clinched the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament because of a Princeton loss to Charleston.
Penn State and George Mason as the top-two seeds will receive byes to the EIVA Tournament semifinals.