Pepperdine at George Mason | 2018 NCAA Men's Volleyball

George Mason Hosts Ball State And Pepperdine At Uvaldo Acosta Invite

George Mason will host Pepperdine and Ball State at the Uvaldo Acosta Invitational in Fairfax, Virginia, this weekend.

Jan 25, 2018 by Kolby Paxton

George Mason Hosts Ball State And Pepperdine At Uvaldo Acosta Invite

In what will serve as No. 12 Pepperdine’s first road matches of the season, the Waves will join Ball State and the hosts from George Mason at the Uvaldo Acosta Invitational in Fairfax, Virginia, this weekend.

All of the action will be streamed LIVE on FloVolleyball.

But first, here’s what you need to know about each of the three teams:

Pepperdine Waves (1-2)

Pepperdine will arrive in Fairfax fresh off of losses to No. 5 UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara, looking to right the ship. The Waves are averaging 12 kills per set at a .231 clip, along with 1.82 aces/set and 2.59 blocks/set — good for sixth and seventh nationally.

Alex Harthaller has paced the group with 0.9 aces per set, which leads the nation.

Pepperdine has never lost to George Mason (8-0 all-time) and holds a 7-1 mark against Ball State.

George Mason (2-4)

More than most, George Mason has tested itself with top competition early and often in 2018. The Patriots endured four straight losses to No. 15 Grand Canyon (twice), No. 7 Loyola-Chicago, and No. 11 Lewis between wins against Limestone and Mount Olive, respectively.

Hayden Wagner and Johnny Gomez swept EIVA Player of the Week honors this week after their performances against Mount Olive. Wagner picked up the offensive honor after setting personal bests for kills (24), hit percentage (.459), aces (3), and total points (28). Gomez took the defensive recognition after tallying 14 digs, running his season total to 50.

Ball State (4-2)

After losses to BYU and Stanford dropped the Cardinals to .500 through four matches, back-to-back impressive home victories over Sacred Heart and Harvard have the boys from Muncie feeling confident as they head to Fairfax.

Matt Walsh picked up MIVA Offensive Player of the Week and AVCA Player of the Week honors after erupting for 27 kills with a .625 hitting percentage and an average of three kills per set in last weekend’s contest. Walsh currently ranks second in program history with 402 blocks.