FAIRFAX, VA – Sophomore outside hitter Nate Stott paced Rutgers-Newark with 13 kills, but No. 11 nationally ranked George Mason held on for a 3-0 non-conference win. Game scores were 30-21, 30-28, 30-28.

NCAA Statistics

Stott, who hit .308, got plenty of help from sophomore middle blockers Jon Keller and Kenneth Stumbaugh who had eight kills apiece while hitting .636 and .500, respectively. Freshman setter Jeff Zornig collected 35 assists as the Scarlet Raiders (4-10) hit .253. Freshman outside hitter Grant Metheny also had eight kills.

But, George Mason hit a dominating .354 for the match and out-blocked Rutgers-Newark, 10-4. The Patriots also roped seven aces while the Raiders got just two aces while committing 20 service errors.

Hudson Bates had 10 kills for George Mason (9-5) while Kyle Gramit chipped in nine in a balanced attack.

The loss was almost a carbon copy of last week's 30-19, 30-28, 30-28 loss at Princeton, with the Raiders getting overpowered in game one only to bounce back with chances to win each of the last two games. Gramit had five kills and the Patriots hit .556 in game one while blocking five Rutgers-Newark attacks.

In game two, the Raiders chipped away at a 23-16 deficit to pull even with the Patriots at 28-28 on back-to-back kills by Stott and Keller. But, a block by R.J. Goubeaux and Mark Burik set up the game-ending service ace by Gramit to make it 2-0. Stott posted five kills while Metheny, Keller and Stumbaugh each had four as Rutgers-Newark fell despite hitting .343 for the game.

In game three, Rutgers-Newark charged from a 27-22 deficit to make it a one-point match at 28-27 on a Metheny kill. The teams traded points on a kill by George Mason's Colton Naill followed by a Patriot service error before Bates ended the evening with a kill. Stott had four kills in as many swings in the game for the Raiders, but Bates and Naill had five kills apiece for the Patriots.

Rutgers-Newark hosts Sacred Heart on Friday and Springfield on Saturday in a pair of key EIVA Hay matches in The Golden Dome. Each match begins at 7 p.m.