Cambridge, Mass. – April 5, 2013 – The Springfield College men’s volleyball team made short work of Bard and Southern Vermont in the opening night of the MIT Scramble on Friday. The Pride opened up the evening with a 25-20, 25-10, 25-10 win over Bard before cruising by Southern Vermont, 25-11, 25-11, 25-13.

Springfield has strung together 20-straight victories and is 26-3.

In the opening set against Bard, the Pride jumped out to a 6-0 advantage behind the strong serving of Evan Acanfora. The Raptors got within 22-19 before Alistair Matthews and Mike Freytag posted a block to push the lead to four. Greg Woods would later put a ball away to close the first set, 25-20.

In the second, Bard burned a timeout at 14-8 following consecutive hitting errors. Jason Mascoe provided a tremendous effort at the service line, keeping the Raptors out of system as Springfield opened up an 18-9 lead. Springfield continued to cruise and Matthews crushed a ball out of the back row for the 25-10 win.

Springfield opened up a 6-0 lead in the third behind Brendan McGourn’s aggressive serving and never looked back to take the sweep, 25-10. Mascoe put the exclamation point on the win with a solo stuff for the Pride.

Matthews finished the contest with 14 kills on 22 attempts, Mascoe hit .800 with eight kills. Greg Woods produced seven kills from the pin, Ryan Lilley recorded 11 digs, and Mike Freytag was credited with four blocks. Entering the match with the nation’s top-hitting percentage, Springfield it hit .370 as a team.

Playing Southern Vermont for the third time this season and second time in six days, Springfield earned its 20th-straight win in dominant fashion. Jimmy O’Leary connected for kills on all eight of his swings, and John Coen tallied a team-best nine kills. Additionally, both Luis Vega and Mike Pelletier had six kills.

The Pride gained an 11-4 advantage in the first, riding the strong play of Coen, before O’Leary hammered a ball out of the middle to give the Pride the first set, 25-11.

Several early kills from Vega allowed Springfield to take an 11-6 lead in the second, and after three-straight aces, its lead grew to 16-8. Falcone continued the pressure for Springfield with some solid work from the service line en route to another 25-11 win.

Springfield emptied the bench in the third, and continued to roll, winning the third, 25-13. Holding an 11-10 lead, Springfield played strong defense, and thanks to kills from Woods and a key ace from Matthews, Springfield wrapped up the win.

Springfield will now prepare to play Elmira and Regis on Saturday.