Springfield, Mass. - April 5, 2016 - The Springfield College men's volleyball team cruised to a three-set win over MIT on Tuesday evening in Blake Arena in its final Division III match of the regular season.  The Pride won by the scores of 25-20, 25-22, 25-16. 

Springfield, which was once again ranked second in the nation in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Nationa Poll, improves to 25-3, while the Engineers dropped to 21-8. 

Luis Garcia Rubio (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) continued to direct the nation's top-ranked offense as he dished out 41 assists in guiding the Pride to a .390 hitting percentage.  Greg Woods (Middletown, Conn.) posted 13 kills, as did Luis Vega (Corozal, Puerto Rico), who posted a .429 hitting percentage in the victory.  Ricardo Padilla Ayala (San Juan, Puerto Rico) added a career-high 13 digs to go along with six kills.

MIT was held to a .195 hitting percentage in the game, as four players had at least six kills.  Skyler Kaufman led the way with nine kills, while Martin Krasuski chipped in seven.  Yize Dong handed out 26 assists and Andrew Hall racked up a match-best three blocks. 

MIT opened the match with four kills on its first six swings and raced out to a 6-2 advantage as Springfield head coach Charlie Sullivan wasted little time calling a timeout.  Springfield would respond and take a 9-8 lead on an ace by Julian Welsh-White (Collingswood, N.J.) and would extend its lead to 17-14 after Padilla Ayala hammered an overpass kill.  MIT burned a timeout of their own following a block by Woods and Kyle Jasuta (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) at 20-16 and Vega converted out of the backrow for a 25-20 first set win.  Woods produced five kills to pace the hosts, who hit .300 as a team.

In the second, the Engineers took a 9-7 lead, however the Pride responded with a 6-2 push capped off by an ace from Vega to put the hosts ahead 13-11.  After Springfield's lead grew to 17-13, the visitors answered with a 4-0 push out of timeout, thanks to three Springfield attack errors to even things at 17.  Springfield responded with a 4-1 burst of their own, as Woods crafted a kill around the Engineer block to give the Pride a 21-18 cushion.  Welsh-White produced Springfield's 15th kill of the frame as he pounded a ball in system to give the Pride a 25-22 win. Vega was tremendous in the stanza, totaling six kills as Springfield hit at a .370 clip.

An ace from MIT knotted the third set at nine-all before Springfield put together a 4-0 surge, using a Vega kill in transition open up a 13-9 lead.  Out of an MIT timeout, the Pride continued to pour on the offensive pressure, with Vega blasting a kill off the block to put Springfield in control, 17-10.  Woods delivered in transition down the line at 22-14, and would cap off his career in Blake Arena burying a high ball cross court for the match-winning point.

Springfield will play its regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon when it takes on Division-I foe, NJIT, at 4:00 pm.