By River Mitchell
@rivermitchell27
The 2025 men’s volleyball team at Springfield College will be one to remember.
After another successful year from the Pride led by 11-time national champion Charlie Sullivan, Springfield found itself back in the NCAA tournament. Unlike the last two seasons, the Pride made it out of the first round and went onto the finals for the first time since 2022. The Pride suffered a tough loss back in 2022 losing in four sets to Carthage in their home gym.
This year, the Pride were looking to win their first national championship since 2018, where they beat Stevens Institute of Technology in three sets. Flash forward seven years later, the Pride are back in the national tournament, playing at the Cregger Center at Roanoke College.
Playing against Southern Virginia University, it was essentially a home game for the Knights, with the two campuses separated by 50 minutes. The Pride got swept, falling just short of glory.
“It was a bummer, for sure,” said setter Dylan Mulvaney. “It was tough seeing the other team celebrate watching the confetti fall down. For it to be for them when you dream about that being for you and to get so close, it was a bummer. But definitely would rather be there than really anywhere else. The team performed at such a high level all year, and at the same time there’s a level of gratitude. You’re just grateful to be in the position to have a chance to play for the national championship.”
Starting with their annual trip to California to play against Concordia University Irvine, the Pride came back and started the season out really strong, winning their first 14 straight sets. They didn’t have their first home game until Feb. 6, where they beat New Paltz to advance to 6-1 on the season. Springfield lost its first home game of the year to No. 1 ranked NYU, but continued to cruise even after a tough three sets loss.
The Pride finished the regular season with a record of 22-4. Along the way, they beat top teams such as Vassar, Stevens and even Southern Virginia in Blake Arena.
“[There were] one or two rallies that they were able to come out on top of,” Mulvaney said. “In Blake, we kind of out scraped them and some breaks went our way. This time around, they just out scraped us and some breaks went their way. Down the stretch, they made a few less errors than they did in Blake, and we made a few more.”
Entering the tournament this year, the Pride flew back out to Carthage to compete against Mount Union. Carthage is a place where Springfield have some history, having won the national championship and also lost in the final in the past. Springfield took care of business against Mount Union, coming back from down two sets to one to win the match.
They also beat hosts Carthage in five sets as well, setting up a date at the Cregger Center with Cal Lutheran on April 25. In these two games, Carter Durivage led both games in kills, with 18 against Mount Union and 23 against Carthage.
“I was very confident going in,” Durivage said. “Playing at a new place is obviously a little bit more pressure. I think our connection [with Mulvaney] was really tight, we passed really well so that set us up for some good opportunities for hitting.”
When Springfield found itself down 2-1 going into the fourth set against Carthage, this put Springfield in a position that they weren’t used to. Having not gone to a fifth set in any of the games up to that point, Springfield needed to play their championship level volleyball more than ever before. They did this with a convincing set four victory winning 25-15, and a tight 15-12 fifth set victory to move past the first round for the first time in three years.
“I think the whole time, the energy was on our side,” Durivage said. “Our bench played a huge role and they were so loud, which was huge. But our guys never stopped smiling, they never stopped talking, and that was a huge part of it. We just didn’t lose any belief, and I think that’s where we gained the advantage.”
Against Carthage, the Pride lost the first set 25-23, before coming back with two set victories, winning 25-21 and 25-18. Carthage stayed alive by winning the fifth set, as Springfield took the final set 15-8, surviving the weekend in Wisconsin.
“I think everyone was just really happy,” said head coach Charlie Sullivan. “We just played a really clean match, and had our best effort out there. We were also really mentally locked in, so it’s a good feeling. Everyone was happy about that.”
After this, the team was back on the road Wednesday, where they beat Cal Lutheran in three sets. The first set (25-19) was the closest of the three, as Springfield continued their domination over the next two sets (25-16, 25-17).
Now that the season is over, Springfield is set to graduate three seniors, including middle blocker Chris Rouleau alongside right side hitter and serving specialist Giancarlo Carrion.
“It sucks to not have them come away with a ring at the end of their career,” Mulvaney said. “Disappointing, for sure. But at the same time, they gave so much to the program. They were so important to the growth of this team, and I don’t think anybody was disappointed in them.”
With the season ending and making it all the way to the finals, Mulvaney sees the recent experience of playing in the NCAA tournament as a valuable tool to figure out how to improve.
“I think experience is the number one teacher,” Mulvaney said. “The experience of getting to the national championship finals this year, the experience of getting on the road and playing in the NCAA tournament, and the experience of having a longer season can help us map out how we want to be better next year.”