Springfield, Mass. - January 25, 2020 - The Springfield College men's volleyball team played in its home opener on Saturday and bested Sage in four sets and swept Elmira in the night cap in Blake Arena.

Ranked No. 2 in the most recent AVCA Division III National Coaches Poll, Springfield improved to 3-1 on the year.   It was an impressive two matches for first-year Jarrett Anderson (San Jose, Calif.) as he combined for 23 kills, hitting .588, to go along with 14 aces, seven blocks, and five digs in the two wins.

 Springfield will hit the court again on Tuesday when it travels to play Regis at 6 pm.

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Springfield 3, Sage 1 (25-17, 25-14, 20-25, 25-21)

In their home opener, Springfield hit at a .349 clip en route to the four-set victory over Sage.  In his home debut, first-year Jarrett Anderson (San Jose, Calif.) totaled a team-best 13 kills on a .524 hitting percentage to go along with six aces and four blocks.  Classmate Liam York (Kailua, Hawaii) added nine kills, hitting .429, and Chris Parker (East Northport, N.Y.) turned in seven kills at a .750 clip.  Thomas Wollweber (Oceanside, Calif.) finished with a match-best six blocks and Matt Lilley (Stony Brook, N.Y.) handed out 24 assists and registered six digs.  The Pride totaled 14 aces in the match despite having 28 service errors.  

It was an impressive start to the Pride as it stormed out to a 16-6 advantage on an ace by York as the Gators whistled for a timeout.  Behind four kills from Parker, Springfield would coast to a 25-17 win in a frame in which it hit .533.  Springfield again used a fast start in the second set, seizing a 14-5 lead when Anderson put away a kill on the right side.  Springfield would push its lead to 19-8 following three-straight aces by Anderson, and Lilley sealed the 25-20 win with the Pride's seventh ace of the set. 

Springfield went to its bench in the third set and Sage responded by hitting .429 to pull out a 25-20 win.  In the fourth set, Anderson put down seven kills to lead the Pride's attack.  In a frame that featured 14 ties, Sage benefitted nine Springfield service errors and held a 19-18 advantage late in the stanza.  The Pride rattled off three-straight points, bookended by a kill and ace from Anderson as it opened up a 21-19 edge.  Out of a Gators timeout, Parker would rip back-to-back aces to give Springfield a 25-21 win as it hit .478 as a team in the finale. 

Springfield 3, Elmira (25-11, 25-11, 25-9)

The Pride was in complete control in the three-set sweep of Elmira as it produced 15 aces and hit .571 as a team while limiting the Soaring Eagles to a -.250 team hitting percentage. Jarrett Anderson (San Jose, Calif.) stuffed his stat shee with 10 kills at a .692 clip, eight aces, four digs, and three blocks and Matt Lilley (Stony Brook, N.Y.) handed out 27 assists.  Both Thomas Wollweber (Oceanside, N.Y.) and Chris Parker (East Northport, N.Y.) had four blocks, while Liam York (Kailua, Hawaii) and Brennen Brandow (Manorville, N.Y.) each turned in six kills.  

In the opening set, Springfield hit at an incredible .909 hitting percentage, totaling 10 kills on 11 errorless attempts.  An ace by Parker painted the back line for the 16-7 advantage and Anderson blistered back-to-back aces to close out the 25-11 win.  In the second, Anderson put away a kill to give the hosts a 12-5 lead as the Soaring Eagles burned a timeout.  The first-year would break open the set with a serving run that featured four-straight aces to highlight a frame where the Pride hit .500 and totaled eight aces.

In the third, an ace by York put Springfield on top by a score of 8-1 before Anderson would later bury a kill for the 16-4 lead.  Benefitting from 12 Elmira attack errors in the set, Springfield would coast to the 25-9 win, with Anderson notching six kills to pace the attack.