By Chris Gionta
@Chris_Gionta
A service ace by Dylan Mulvaney put the fifth set at a 6-5 Vassar advantage against the Springfield men’s volleyball team Friday night. The energy was high in Blake Arena﹣with fans largely flaunted in colorless garb for a “Whiteout” theme. And following a dominant fourth set by the Pride, the crowd’s spirit was amplified.
Yet, Vassar’s experienced squad﹣ranked No. 2 in the country﹣remained unfazed in the midst of it all. Adam Gulick spiked one for a kill to get the Brewers back on track, and that was followed by a Gavin van Beveren kill to make it 8-5. Springfield’s Jarrett Anderson acquired two of the match’s next three points, but Vassar held firm after.
Two Brewers kills and a pair of Pride attack errors brought Vassar’s advantage to 13-7. After the Brewers committed a service error, van Beveren and Kim notched the final kills necessary to take the 15-8 set victory and 3-2 match win.
“Our youth caught up to us a little bit,” Springfield head coach Charlie Sullivan said. “[Vassar is] a lot more experienced and showed a little bit more composure in crunch time.”
Friday night marked the Pride’s third loss of the season, and second to the Brewers, as Springfield fell to them 3-1 on the road on Feb. 16.
“I thought we did a good job battling and not giving up, but we got to get a little cleaner sometimes,” Sullivan said.
The opening set was back-and-forth for the majority of the frame, with Springfield calling a timeout holding on to a 20-19 lead. A Vassar service error gave the serve to Anderson, who did not let it go until the Pride won the set. After a pair of Brewers attack errors, an Evan Costley kill and an Anderson ace, Springfield went up 1-0 in the match.
Vassar returned strong in the second set by scoring seven of the first nine points. The Pride eventually made it 14-13, but the Brewers finished the set on an 11-3 run to tie the match up.
The next frame was competitive throughout, with neither team garnering a lead of more than four during it. Ultimately, Kim’s dominance pushed Vassar to a 25-22 set victory, as the senior outside hitter notched five of his game-high 19 overall kills in the third.
Following back-to-back set losses, Springfield revived Blake Arena’s intensity, starting with effective serving from its lone senior. Anderson began the fourth with three consecutive aces to spark a 7-1 run that gave the crowd and the team reassurance.
“Jarrett does a nice job﹣he’s probably the fastest [serve] we have, so we rely on it a lot,” Sullivan said.
Vassar recovered slightly, but never quite closed the gap in the fourth, as Springfield took the set 25-17.
The Brewers and Pride split the final frame’s first six points evenly, but the Brewers broke away with large contributions from Kim, van Beveren and Gulick.
Springfield has three games remaining in the regular season, and the young squad intends to fine-tune things prior to the announcement of the NCAA Tournament bracket.
“Growing, getting better, learning from experiences,” Sullivan said.
Springfield’s next match comes on April 4 in Blake Arena at 6 p.m. against Nichols.
Photo: Luke Whitehouse/The Student