{"id":154524,"date":"2026-03-05T21:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/154524\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T21:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:26:08","slug":"volleyball-hits-the-road-to-face-queens-university-of-charlotte-and-belmont-abbey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/154524\/","title":{"rendered":"Volleyball Hits the Road to Face Queens University of Charlotte and Belmont Abbey"},"content":{"rendered":"

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL vs. Queens University of Charlotte
\nWHEN:\u00a0Friday, March\u00a06 (6\u00a0p.m.)
\nWHERE:\u00a0Levine Center | Charlotte, N.C.
\nRECORDS:\u00a0George Mason (9-6, 2-2\u00a0EIVA); Queens (6-10,\u00a01-7\u00a0MIVA)
\nALL-TIME SERIES:\u00a0George Mason leads, 3-0; last met Jan. 23, 2025<\/a> in Fairfax\u00a0–\u00a0George Mason won 3-1
\nLIVE STATS:\u00a0Click Here<\/a>
\nWATCH (Queens Sports Network)\u00a0MARCH 6:\u00a0Click Here<\/a><\/p>\n

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL vs.\u00a0Belmont Abbey College

\nWHEN:\u00a0Saturday, March 7\u00a0(4 p.m.)

\nWHERE:\u00a0Wheeler Center | Belmont, N.C.

\nRECORDS:\u00a0George Mason (9-6, 2-2\u00a0EIVA); Belmont Abbey (9-2,\u00a05-1\u00a0Conference Carolinas)

\nALL-TIME SERIES:\u00a0George Mason leads, 1-0; last met Jan. 6, 2017<\/a>\u00a0in Belmont\u00a0–\u00a0George Mason won 3-0

\nLIVE STATS:\u00a0Click Here<\/a>

\nWATCH (Conference Carolinas Digital Network) MARCH 7:\u00a0Click Here<\/a>
\n \n<\/p>\n

Charlotte, N.C. \u2013\u00a0The George Mason Men’s Volleyball team will hit the road to North Carolina for a pair of games in Charlotte and Belmont. The Patriots will first play Queens at Levine Center on Friday, March 6, at 6 p.m., followed by a Saturday matchup with Belmont Abbey at Wheeler Center at 4 p.m.<\/p>\n

LAST TIME OUT

\nLast weekend, George Mason (9-6, 2-2 EIVA) went undefeated in their two-game homestand, beating No. 19 NJIT on Friday and Dominican on Sunday.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the Patriots beat No. 19 NJIT 3-1<\/a>\u00a0and evened their home-and-home season series with the Highlanders.\u00a0It was the\u00a0Patriots’ first ranked-win since last season on\u00a0March 14, 2025<\/a>, when they beat the Highlanders, ranked No. 19 as well, by the same score.\u00a0Sophomore pin hitter\u00a0Aidan Weltin<\/a>\u00a0and junior\u00a0outside hitter\u00a0Robert Evangelista<\/a>\u00a0recorded a team-high\u00a015 kills, and senior setter\u00a0Georgi Zahariev<\/a>\u00a0had a\u00a0season-high 53 assists and was one shy of tying his career best set on\u00a0April 19, 2023<\/a>, against Harvard.<\/p>\n

Later that weekend, the Patriots swept Dominican in a decisive Sunday victory<\/a>. Sophomore middle blocker\u00a0Alexander Lillie<\/a>\u00a0tied his season-high of two solo blocks for the third time and recorded\u00a0game-highs in blocks (3.5) and service aces (2).<\/p>\n

AWARDS

\nGeorge Mason picked up their second Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) weekly award of the season this week with Zahariev being named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Week<\/a>. Less than 24 hours later, he was named\u00a0the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Collegiate Men’s Player of the Week<\/a>.\u00a0Zahariev is the 57th\u00a0EIVA student-athlete to earn the AVCA national award and marks the 10th\u00a0time a Patriot has won it. He is the first from the EIVA since Penn State’s John Kerr on April 21, 2024 and first from George Mason since Jack Bolz on\u00a0March 31, 2024.<\/p>\n

The weekly national award takes into consideration\u00a0the strong individual efforts of national collegiate volleyball players from across the country during the week. After last week’s action, the Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, setter\u00a0leads the EIVA and ranks 12th\u00a0nationally at 10.02 assists per set.<\/p>\n

GAME 1: SCOUTING QUEENS

\nQueens (6-10,\u00a01-7\u00a0MIVA), after starting the season 4-1, have posted a 2-9 record the last 11 games and are currently on a five-game losing streak which include ranked opponents such as No. 11 Ohio State, No. 15 Lewis and No. 14 McKendree. Their last win came on Feb. 15 with a thrilling five-set victory over Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) opponent #11 Ohio State.<\/p>\n

Sophomore outside hitter Casey Maas\u00a0is the team’s leader in kills with 150. The Glen\u00a0Ellyn, Illinois, native had a career-high 22 kills in their ranked win over the Buckeyes on Feb. 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two other Royals are over the century mark in kills, and they are outside hitters Chance Shampine and Kaden Saurer with 121 and 115, respectively. Shampine also leads the team in digs (81) and service aces (19).<\/p>\n

On defense, middle hitter Nathan Vaupel has the most blocks on the team with 41. The senior from\u00a0West Bend, Wisconsin, product last recorded two solo blocks on Feb. 5 in their loss to No. 9 Ball State.<\/p>\n

STAT LEADERS

\nPATRIOTS (15\u00a0games played) | ROYALS (16 games played) \n<\/p>\n

\nHISTORY WITH THE ROYALS
\nThe Patriots hold a 3-0 all-time series lead over Queens. George Mason won their first meeting in straight sets in Charlotte on Jan. 4, 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Three years later on Feb. 19, 2022<\/a>, in Fairfax, the Patriots won in five sets. Finally, in their most recent meeting last season on Jan. 23, 2025<\/a>, the Patriots won 3-1 in Fairfax.<\/p>\n

GAME 2: SCOUTING BELMONT ABBEY

\nBelmont Abbey (9-2, 5-1 CC) stands at the top of the Conference Carolinas standings with a 5-1 record and a 9-2 overall record. The Crusaders are 5-1 the last six games, with their only loss being a five-set loss to conference foe, Barton.<\/p>\n

Belmont is currently on a two-game winning streak, beating conference opponent Mount Olive and Queens both in straight sets.<\/p>\n

Senior outside hitter Caden Day is the team’s leader in kills with 152. Day has recorded six games in which he has made 15 or more kills for the Crusaders, with his season-high of 19 coming on the team’s Feb. 11 five-set win over Erskine.<\/p>\n

Outside hitter Zach Puentes is the team’s second-highest offensive scorer, having recorded 123 kills so far in his junior campaign. Junior setter Joseph Morris has the most assists with 416 and had a five-ace game in their loss to Lincoln Memorial on Feb. 13.<\/p>\n

On defense, senior middle blocker\u00a0Jibriel Elhaddad\u00a0leads the team in blocks\u00a0with 42. The Jupiter, Florida, product has had two games in which he recorded two solo blocks (March 3 vs. Queens and Feb. 14 vs. Emmanuel).<\/p>\n

STAT LEADERS

\nPATRIOTS (15\u00a0games played) | CRUSADERS (11 games played) \n<\/p>\n

\nHISTORY WITH THE CRUSADERS
\nThis will be the Patriots’ first meeting with the Crusaders since\u00a0Jan. 6, 2017<\/a>, when the Green & Gold won in straight sets in Belmont.<\/p>\n

UP NEXT

\nGeorge Mason will return home to the Recreation Athletics Complex (RAC)\u00a0next week for two games. On Friday, March 13, the Patriots will play Barton College at\u00a06 p.m. After a rest day on Saturday, the Patriots will face FDU on Sunday at 2 p.m. to conclude their home-and-home series with the Knights.

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