Harvard closed the set on three back-to-back kills from Jones and a service ace from freshman middle hitter Caleb Zimmick.

“We had lost to them, 3-0, at our place, so it was important to get [off] to a good start and try [to] show them that we were ready to compete this time and get a revenge win,” Jones said. “The first set we did a really good job of that. We came out really strong.”

But George Mason did not go down quietly. Swapping points and multiple service errors with the Crimson, the Patriots were able to power past Harvard, 25-22 and 25-23, in the second and third sets.

The Crimson turned it around in the fourth set to take an early 7-6 lead off a Jones kill. Harvard kept its offense firing with consistent attacking from Zimmick and freshman outside hitter DJ White.

“I think we got a little momentum and confidence back, and that’s what made the difference,” Baise said.

Early in the winner-take-all fifth set, the Crimson faced an 8-4 deficit due to a string of attacking errors.

But with a number of hitting errors on the George Mason side, coupled with a service ace from Jones, Harvard clawed its way back and took the tenuous 13-12 lead.

The Patriots kept it close, knotting the score at 15, before the Crimson earned two straight points to take the fifth set, 17-15, and the match, 3-2.

Jones led Harvard with 20 kills, and junior setter Rob Lothman provided 53 assists for the Crimson offense.

“It’s a testament to our team’s mental toughness that we were able to actually come back from a pretty significant deficit in the fifth game,” Gibbons said. “I think just the mental focus of everybody on the court and [our] will really showed.”