By Kaleb Knowles
The five-time national champion Springfield College men’s volleyball team finds itself back in the Final Four this season after an incredible regular season campaign and regional rounds. The Pride, who were defeated in the national championship just a season ago against Southern Virginia, look to make a run back to the biggest stage, except this time that game will be played right in their backyard in Blake Arena.
The Pride went 21-3 during the regular season, their best regular-season record since 2022, a year that ended with them being defeated in the national championship game by Carthage. The Firebirds will also be in the Final Four, playing on the other side of the bracket against Wittenberg at 7:30 on Thursday. But getting back to that stage won’t be an easy task, even with the home-court advantage.
Their path to the Final Four went through a pair of four-set victories. The first came on Friday against Buffalo State, and the second on Saturday night in a packed Blake Arena against SUNY New Paltz. In that game, senior outside hitter Jake Deslauriers had a team-high 14 kills along the way to the victory. Now the team gears up for an even tougher matchup on Thursday in the Final Four.
Their opponent, Cal Lutheran, is coming in with lots of momentum and has completely rebuilt their team compared to the team the Pride swept in the Final Four a year ago.
“It’s a totally different team, they graduated five to seven starters,” Pride head coach Charlie Sullivan said. “They got a couple of kids off the portal, and they just reloaded so quickly, it’s unbelievable.”
While their first opponent in the Final Four is loaded, so are the Pride. Under Sullivan, the Pride have won a total of five national championships, and during the first years of the tournament, becoming NCAA-sanctioned, went to seven straight tournament finals from 2012 to 2018, winning five of the seven. And while they haven’t won a title since 2018, they are determined to switch the narrative this season.
The Pride are led by star players in every direction you look on the court. Their number one option offensively all season has been senior Carter Durivage, who has racked up a team high 237 kills on the season. His connection with his fellow senior Dylan Mulvaney, in the setter position, who had his fingerprints all over their regional win against Sunny New Paltz, makes them a dangerous one-two duo. Then on the defensive end, 6-foot-8 middle blocker Brennan Cutter, who was named to the All-Region first team alongside Durivage and Mulvaney, has accumulated 71 total blocks this season, proving that no matter where you look on this roster, there is talent.
“This team figured out through adversity some things that worked really well,” Sullivan said. “They use their failures as fertilizers for success and have grown as a result through good experiences.”
Springfield hopes to continue that success with the help of its home crowd, which had a huge impact in their regional final win. During the regional final, multiple sports teams on the campus came together to support the men’s volleyball team in Blake Arena. With the boost of a rocking crowd, the Pride pushed through the first two rounds on their path to the Final Four.
Now, the Pride take on the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen, who come in as the No. 5 team in the country, at 5 p.m. on Thursday. Then the winner moves on to the national championship game Saturday at 7 p.m.
Photo by Emma Bynes/The Student