By River Mitchell
@rivermitchell27
With the small crowd on hand, the atmosphere in Blake Arena on Wednesday night was absolutely electric as the men’s volleyball team took on Nichols in a thrilling five-set victory. Even though the Pride had more combined service and attack errors than the Bison, the game was sealed by a Evan Costley kill that looked like a missile coming off his hand, giving the Pride the win (25-20, 23-25, 15-25, 25-16, 18-16) moving to 14-2 on the season.
“It feels great,” said Pride head coach Charlie Sullivan. “Really proud of the guys hanging in there just staying focused. [They] never give up.”
Nichols came in as the 11th ranked team in the country according to the AVCA Division III Coaches poll. Because of that, Sullivan recognized that the Pride needed a lot of preparation due to the success Nichols has achieved this year.
“A lot of preparation [goes into these games],” Sullivan said. “Hours and hours.”
The Pride had three players in this affair from double digit kills, including Sam Levinson who had another great game in his impressive first-year campaign. He dropped 16 total kills on the Bisons with seven digs. Evan Costley also popped off for 14 kills alongside Chris Rouleau who had 13. Costley added four aces with Giancarlo Carrion coming in right behind him with three.
Carrion is a guy that Sullivan has been very impressed with from the service line. Sullivan typically uses him as a service specialist, leading the team with 24 total aces.
“[He’s been] phenomenal,” Sullivan said. “You see it. He comes in, adds energy [and adds] a boost like an electric shock.”
Set one started out very strong for the Pride, taking command of the set very early on and never looking back. The set was highlighted by a six point run to take a 10-3 lead, which was capped off by one of Carrion’s three aces. The Pride managed to keep the Bison at bay, and ended the set with another run, ended by one of Costley’s four aces.
Set two and three featured a very different outcome for the Pride. Springfield managed to get out to a good lead, which featured another six point rally, but was immediately followed by Nichols scoring the next five of six points. The Pride and the Bisons were tied at 21 points each, and Nichols rattled off another three points to put them up 24-21. The Bison won the set 25-23 before Nichols manhandled the third set, winning 25-15 giving them a 2-1 lead on the affair.
“They played well [in set two] and we had errors,” Sullivan said. “ We just gave them some points which we can’t afford to do at that time.”
Sets four and five would be much more forgiving for the Pride. Getting the game tied at four in the fourth set, the Pride scored five of the next six points and didn’t look back from there. They kept pace with Nichols for the remainder of the set, scoring four in a row to end the set led by two Rouleau kills.
The fifth set was the most exciting set. The Pride found themselves down 8-5, but they managed to tie the game at 8 apiece. The set had to be extended, with the two teams drawn at 15. The crowd was growing crazy, and a James Browning and Costley kill sealed the deal as it sounded like the sound barrier was broken inside the arena.
The Pride will play Nichols again this Saturday on the road at 2 p.m. in hopes of searching for their 15th victory of the season.