No. 7 Penn State fell victim to a sub-.500 George Mason team Friday night, denting their unblemished home record first time all season.
The Nittany Lions' troubles began with the first set in which they played even with the visiting Patriots late into the game.
Down 21-19, Penn State found itself in a hole despite George Mason’s seven service errors.
The late deficit forced Pavlik’s hand at a timeout with hopes that his Nittany Lions would rebound.
The timeout resulted in a Penn State point out of the break off of a Kyle Barnes attack error, but it was the Patriots who came out of the first set victorious, winning the game 25-22.