Newark, N.J. – January 25, 2013 – Mike Pelletier produced a match-high 15 kills while hitting .700 to lead the Springfield College men’s volleyball team to a three-game sweep of Cairn on Friday evening in the Golden Dome Invitational at Rutgers-Newark.

Springfield prevailed by the set scores of 25-20, 25-18, 25-16. The Pride, which is the top-ranked team in Division III, improved to 2-1 on the season.

Pelletier dominated the match racking up 15 kills on 20 attempts while committing just one error. The senior added seven digs, three blocks and a pair of aces. Alistair Matthews tacked on seven kills, while Jimmy O’Leary tallied a career-best eight blocks. Mike Becker was credited with 29 assists in leading Springfield to a .373 hitting percentage on the night, and on the defensive side of the ball, Nick Ferry recorded a match-best eight digs.

For the Highlanders, Noah Prickett led the offense with eight kills, while Josh Tuttle finished right behind him with seven kills of his own. Josiah Buss had a team-high seven digs and Jon Wilson ran the offense by recording 24 assists on the night.

After a solo block by O’Leary broke an 18-all tie in the first, the Pride used kills from Luis Vega, Greg Falcone, and Becker to open up a 23-19 lead. After a Cairn kill, consecutive errors by the Highlanders gave the Pride a 25-20 win.

The Pride hit .423 in the second as it cruised to a 25-18 win. With the score 7-6 in favor of Springfield, the Pride opened up a 9-3 spurt capped off by a double block from O’Leary and Ryan Quesenberry. Cairn rallied to get within 19-16 after a Springfield attack error, but the Pride was able to close out the stanza with a 6-2 burst, with Vega ending the set with another kill.

Springfield raced out an 8-3 lead in the third and rode the standout play of Pelletier in the frame. The senior outside connected on eight kills on nine errorless attempts to account for 80% of the Pride’s offense in the game. After the Highlanders got within 20-15, a kill from O’Leary jump started a 5-1 run to close out the match in three sets.

Springfield will wrap up the Invitational on Saturday when it takes on Kean and Rutgers Newark.