UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – In a match filled with dramatic turns and plot twists, George Mason ended up with the happy ending.
The Patriots followed the lead of Omar Hoyos and Liam French, and gained just enough of an edge in the fifth set, to hold off Harvard in the opening round of the EIVA Championship Tournament at Penn State’s Rec Hall on April 19, 2023.
George Mason (13-14, 4-6) will duel with regular-season champion and third-ranked Penn State in the second semifinal match on April 20, with a first serve at 7 p.m.
The Patriots burst to a 4-0 lead to open the fifth, saw the Crimson battle back to tie it at 7-7, but Harvard never took the lead or even tied it again
George Mason was led by the 1-2 punch of Hoyos, with 22 kills and two aces, and French, with 20 kills and three aces.
Match notes

• Harvard trailed 18-13 in the first set before using a 9-1 run to take the lead.
• George Mason played nearly flawlessly in the second and third sets, with only three errors while hitting .453.
• Harvard used a 5-1 run in the middle of the fourth for a 20-16 lead and held on.
• Penn State swept both regular-season matches with George Mason 3-0.
• The Patriots won a five-set match for the first time this season after dropping the first four.

Match stats
George Mason: 61 kills, .311 hitting, 10 aces, 33 digs, 13 blocks
Harvard: 46 kills, .211 hitting, two aces, 34 digs, 11.5 blocks
Colin Heath (GMU) eight kills, three aces, four blocks
Georgi Zahariev (GMU) 54 assists, four blocks
Jason Ashenfelter (GMU) six blocks
Sam Peters (GMU) four blocks
Paul Wzyszynski (GMU) six digs
Zach Berty (Harvard) 17 kills
James Bardin (Harvard) 17 assists
Will Sorenson (Harvard) 15 assists
Trevor Schultz (Harvard) five blocks
Kade McGovern (Harvard) eight kills, four blocks
Logan Shepherd (Harvard) seven digs
Post-match comments
George Mason coach Jay Hosack
“Hat’s off to Harvard – they gave us everything they’ve got tonight. They made us earn everything.”
“The first game we were up (18-13) and kind of indicative of our season, we made an unforced error, they made a good play, we made another unforced error, they had a block and the next thing you know we’re five points down and we kind of snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory.”
Omar Hoyos
“We had a lot of five-setters this year and we knew we hadn’t won a single game yet. We kind of just looked at it – we have to give it everything, see how it goes. If you had told me we had one five-setter to win, I would have chosen tonight.”
“I told the guys it wasn’t going to be easy. We were missing our serves, Harvard was putting their serves (in), we were making a lot of unforced errors. I think we kind of felt, ‘Oh, we’re 2-1 up, they’re going to give us the game. It ended up not happening but we stuck to it and the fifth set we did our thing and we ended up winning.”
Harvard coach Brian Baise
“I loved to see them battle back in set 4. They were beaten pretty handily in sets 2 and 3. They guys came in in (set) 4 and were able to fight and give us a chance there in the fifth. Ultimately they were a little bit better in that end game, the pressure situation of set 5.”
“That’s a familiar feeling for us this year. We tend to play really well, and then take a set or two off, and then come back. It was really two different matches. We were playing well, everything was clicking, our offense was good, we’re making some digs, good from the service line, keeping the pressure on them and then when we weren’t (playing well) we compounded error after error.”
Will Sorenson
“It’s not a point we hadn’t been in before, but it’s also a point we’ve come back from. I don’t think people were too discouraged. People knew we were in a tough position, but we were ready to come back and fight.”
“We’re a pretty young team this year. We can compound errors pretty quickly when we start to make one.”