Poughkeepsie, N.Y. – March 30, 2012 – The Springfield College men’s volleyball team rolled past both New Paltz and Nazareth in three sets in the Vassar College Invitational on Friday afternoon. The Pride downed New Paltz 25-18, 25-17, 25-11 before handling Nazareth 25-18, 25-15, 25-21.
Springfield is now 23-5 on the year and won its last 11 matches. In his 14th season at the helm of the Pride, this marks the most wins in a season for head coach Charlie Sullivan.
Against New Paltz, Springfield’s offense continued to hit at an extremely efficient clip, finishing the match with a .480 hitting percentage. Middle hitters Greg Falcone and Jimmy O’Leary combined for 11 kills on 15 errorless attempts, while Mike Pelletier added a team-best seven kills. Nick Ferry totaled seven digs in the match and Mike Becker ran Springfield’s offense with 29 assists.
Alistair Matthews chipped in with six kills and Angel Perez notched five. The Pride controlled the match with several impressive blocking performances, with Falcone leading the way with nine blocks and Pelletier posting five.
In a rematch of last year’s national championship against Nazareth, Springfield hit .390 as a team to best the Golden Flyers for the second time this season.
Falcone was dominant out of the middle, totaling 10 kills at a .750 clip, to go along with eight blocks. Perez added 12 kills and eight blocks from the outside, while Pelletier posted six kills and two service aces of his own.
Springfield will play two more matches on Saturday when it takes on Johnson and Wales at 12:00 pm before challenging host Vassar in a match beginning at 4:00 pm.
