By Chris Gionta
@Chris_Gionta
The Springfield College men’s volleyball team swept New York University (NYU) ﹣ winning their sets 25-21, 25-22, and 25-17 respectively. After winning on Friday against MIT in the first round of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame Morgan Classic, the Pride earned a championship win in Saturday’s defeat of NYU.
With seven consecutive championship victories in the Morgan Classic, the tournament is Springfield’s until someone takes it from the Pride.
“It’s just hopefully another thing in our unique story at Springfield College,” said Springfield head coach Charlie Sullivan. “Hopefully our volleyball team is at that different level, too, so our uniqueness is really important.”
NYU proved it was going to be a tough opponent when the Violets started the match with a 10-7 lead.
“[NYU] offered things at a really high level that we hadn’t really seen before,” Sullivan said. “So, we’re a young team ﹣ we were kind of figuring it out on the fly. They were a really good team ﹣ a lot of fire power, a lot of really good arms ﹣ they played really well. That’s gonna be a really good matchup for us when we play again.”
What particularly stood out with NYU were its middle blockers, whose tall presence and spry jumping ability made it difficult for Springfield to deliver the spikes they wanted to.
“Their middles were great,” Sullivan said. “They’re huge, they close well, they’re athletic, they move well, so that was a challenge for us.”
Springfield retrieved control after a service error by NYU, then Jarrett Anderson landed an ace to make it 10-9. After that, two Violet attack errors gave the Pride the lead.
After NYU tied it back up, the two teams underwent the longest rally of the game, where each side hit hard and defended well. Dylan Mulvaney, Noah Weislo, and Chris Rouleau were constantly blocking and recovering the ball in the front row, and it ultimately set up for a Jarrett Anderson kill on a hard spike.
The Pride did not lose their lead for the remainder of the set despite the Violets being competitive ﹣ ultimately capping it at 25-21.
The second frame went a similar route as the first, with it remaining tight until Springfield pulled away at the end. NYU held a 16-15 lead before the Pride called timeout and scored three points in a row. That sparked a 9-2 run that brought Springfield to a 24-19 set lead. The Violets got a few back, but it proved too little and too late after Weislo executed a kill for the 25th point.
In the third frame, the Pride scored the first three points and did not let go of the lead for the whole set.
Springfield will face a significant challenge in its next match, which will take place on Feb. 16 on the road against No. 4 Vassar at 6 p.m.
Photo: Springfield College Athletics