By Kaleb Knowles and Noah Schuessler
Noise reverberated off the walls of Blake Arena on Thursday night for the first game of the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball final four between the number one-seeded Springfield College Pride and the number five-seeded Cal Lutheran Kingsmen. From the crowd, a multitude of sports teams around the campus dressed in their “white out” themed Springfield shirts erupted right from the first serve as the Pride senior middle blocker Will Kirchoff sent down a ferocious kill past the diving Cal Lutheran star libero, Braden Gonzales. In mere seconds, the raucous crowd was sent into a frenzy as Springfield established an early lead. The rest of the match featured a dominant Springfield showcase that went on to complete the sweep, 3-0, over the Kingsmen, advancing them to the national championship match.
The game featured no shortage of big plays from either team, as the two familiar opponents squared off for a second straight year in the final four, with the same outcome as well. However, this year, the Pride had an advantage unlike they had in the past – their home court Blake Arena. Both the low ceiling, which makes hard hits that fly into the rafters hard to read, and the constant intensity of the fans chanting in the crowd changed the dynamic of the game.
“Yeah, it’s an electric atmosphere,” junior middle blocker and First Team All-American Brennan Cutter said. “I mean, the support we get here is so great, and it really helps us and pushes us to win a couple more points.”
The atmosphere bled into the ears of everyone that was in attendance. Even Springfield College president Mary-Beth Cooper was moving around the arena wearing a Springfield jersey, going back and forth between the student section and the crowsnest above the court.
The gameplan was clear for anyone that was in the arena for the Pride, stay big up front with size and win the block advantage. A stat that they won and then some, out-blocking the Kingsmen 19 to 6. With Cutter leading the way with six rejections, the Kingsmen’s offense didn’t have an answer.
“We just knew those pin hitters, that all three of them are really dangerous,” Pride head coach Charlie Sullivan said. “We tried to study them a little bit, and we were happy if we got a dig or a block touch.”
In a game that Springfield seemed to control from the jump, its path to the sweep was never easy. Cal Lutheran brought the fight, and despite little to no support from the fans around them, they never gave up. After a hard-fought drop in set one, 25-20, the Kingsmen took their stand and began to go on the attack, even leading the set at one point, 9-5. But after a quick timeout where Sullivan watched intently from the sidelines with his white clipboards and endless stats in his hand, the Pride marched their comeback in the set from a service run by senior Richard Eber Jr., who ended with an unbelievable four service aces.
“Yeah, it’s obvious, right?” Sullivan said. “I mean, he goes back there and pounds the ball and just puts them under a lot of pressure.”
But with every final four matchup, one team wins and goes on to have a chance of seeing their dreams come true of winning a national title, while the other team endures the agony of defeat and a long journey home. The Kingsmen ended with a strong record of 23-7 following the loss, and built a bond that could never be broken.
“Every team is special,” Cal Lutheran head coach Kevin Judd said. “This one exceeded my expectations. They were a close group of guys that just came in and worked hard every single day.”
One of those exceptional hard workers was Gonzales on the defensive end, who made multiple spectacular defensive plays throughout the night. Whether it was saving a crucial point to give his team just a little extra life, or settling down his teammates from the crowd reigning down on them, the former Springfield College libero and now proud member of the Kingsmen always believed his career would end in Blake Arena.
“I knew from the start of the year that this is where I wanted to end my career,” Gonzales said. “I wanted nothing more than to be back on this stage and playing here in this gym. It’s very important to me that we did make it this far.”
In the final set, Cutter put down one last monstrous block in the face of the Cal Lutheran front line to win the third set 25-18 and complete the 3-0 match victory in straight sets. The win propels Springfield College to the national championship game on Saturday night at 7 p.m., where they take on the winner of the second final four matchup tonight between Carthage and Wittenberg.
(Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics/Instagram)