LA JOLLA, Calif. -The UC San Diego men's volleyball team lost an exciting match to No. 15 George Mason 26-30, 26-30, 39-37, 26-30 on Wednesday night in RIMAC Arena.  The Tritons won game three, which  saw GMU hit .462 and the Tritons hit .441.  UCSD was down 28-24 and battled back to tie it at 28-28, both teams continued to put down kills  until a block assist by Jon Daze and Stephen Shaw gave the Tritons the game three win.  UCSD was led by Mike Reuter with 16 kills, while Daze added 15 and Chris Sayers had 12.  Reuter also had a double-double with 10 digs and Brooks Dierdorff had 47 assists and 14 digs.  The loss drops UCSD to 1-20 while the Patriots improve to 16-3.

With the score tied at 8-8 in game one, GMU went on a 9-4 run to lead 17-12.  The Tritons would cut the lead down to 26-23 on a block assist by Garret Smith and Reuter.  Sayers served up an ace late to pull within 25-27, but GMU scored three of the next four points to win game one 30-26.

In game two, neither team could pull away as the largest lead was two points untill GMU opened up a 19-16 lead on a Hudson Bates kill.  The Tritons came back within 22-23 after a Daze kill, but GMU put together another run and finished off game two 30-26 on a Bates kill.

Game three looked to be in the hands of the Patriots as they led 28-24.  A John Mark Wendler kill, a Reuter service ace, GMU attack error and Reuter kill tied the game at 28-28.  The teams would continue to side out seven times before the Tritons finally broke through to lead 36-35 on a bad set by GMU.  The Patriots would then score two straight and serve for the match but a Daze kill kept the Tritons alive and the score at 37-37.  UCSD then went to Daze again with the same result, a kill and a 38-37 lead.  UCSD would then pick up the win on a bock by Daze and Shaw at 39-37.

In game four, the Patriots came out with a 14-9 lead.  The lead would extend to as many as seven points at 23-16.  The Tritons would try and repeat their game three performance and pull back within 23-24 on a Wendler kill.  GMU then scored six of the next nine points to win the match 30-26.

UCSD is back in action on Friday, March 17 against Cal State Northridge in RIMAC Arena.  First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.