Down five points on the road midway through the decisive fifth game – no problem for Catawba.
Catawba rallied from a 7-2 deficit in the final game as it upset No. 19 George Mason 20-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 15-12 on Saturday for its first win in program history against a nationally ranked team.
The second-year program retook the lead in the fifth game with an 8-1 run that featured an ace from outside attacker John Cordray and multiple serves from Anders Christianson that forced the Patriots out of system. Freshman middle attacker Logan Neitzel as part of the run also had two blocks and a kill.
Neitzel finished with a match-high eight blocks and added nine kills and zero errors on a .600 attack percentage.
Cordray led all players with 19 kills on a .359 attack percentage and had two kills in the final game. Pin-hitter Justin Arrowood added 10 kills, including two kills during Catawba’s fifth-game run.
Setter Kristian Smith in the victory had a match-high four aces and in the final game guided the offense to a match-best .438 attack percentage.
Despite the loss, George Mason for the match out-hit Catawba .269 to .250.
Outside attacker Liam French led George Mason with 15 kills and hit .357. French, though, with the Patriots leading 4-0 in the fifth game suffered an apparent lower-leg injury and was sidelined for the rest of the match.
George Mason libero Stef Kins defensively led all players with a career-high 14 digs and did not commit a reception error.
This was the first time a team from the IVA has defeated George Mason.