Springfield, Mass. - February 22, 2020 - The Springfield College men's volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday afternoon as it swept SUNY Potsdam before falling in straight sets to nationally-ranked NYU in the nightcap.

Springfield had its 12-match winning streak snapped in the loss to NYU, who was ranked No. 3 in the nation this week.  The Pride, who now stand at 13-2 on the year, was the top-ranked team in the country in the week's AVCA Division III National Coaches Poll.  

The Pride will play again on Friday night in Dana Gymnasium when it hosts Arcadia at 6 pm. 

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Springfield 3, SUNY Potsdam 0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-11)

In the three-set sweep of SUNY Potsdam, Springfield hit at a .421 clip as Brian Stuart (Yucaipa, Calif.) put away a match-best 10 kills.  Jeremy DeRoche (Haverhill, Mass.) delivered 26 assists and ripped five aces to go along with five digs, while Braden Tam (Hong Kong) chipped in nine kills while hitting .533. Justin Brosnan (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) registered a match-best 10 digs for the Pride as the Pride limited the Bears to a -.111 hitting percentage. 

The Pride raced out to a 9-2 lead as Tam recorded three early aces for the hosts.  Springfield, which would tally seven aces in the frame, would open up a 19-8 advantage when Tyler Wemple's (Kailua, Hawaii) serve painted the sideline for an ace, and a Potsdam attack error gave the Pride a 25-10 win.  Both Stuart and Stiven Topalli (Pogradec, Albania) had three kills to pace the Pride, which hit .467 in the stanza.  

With the game even at nine-all in the second set, Springfield erupted on a 13-2 surge, benefitting from some tough serving by Matt Lilley (Stony Brook, N.Y.), to open up a 22-11 cushion. The visitors would hit -.273 in the set as the Pride coasted to a 25-13 win.

In the third, DeRoche blistered three aces to help the Pride jump out to a 12-4 lead as the Bears whistled for a timeout.  Springfield, which totaled 13 kills at a .500 clip in the set, would led by as many as 14 points, and a kill from Wemple sealed the 25-11 victory.

NYU 3, Springfield 0 (25-23, 25-17, 27-25)

Springfield hit .302 in the setback to the Violets as Chris Parker (East Northport, N.Y.), Brennen Brandow (Manorville, N.Y.), and Jarrett Anderson (San Jose, Calif.) each had 11 kills.  Matt Lilley (Stony Brook, N.Y.) was credited with 40 assists, while Liam York (Kailua, Hawaii) chipped in nine kills and two aces.  Johjan Mussa Robles (Caguas, Puerto Rico) led all players with eight digs.

Neil Ferraro and Evan Lindley each had eight kills, Matin Bikdeli registered 23 assists, six kills, and five digs, and Alex Li produced seven kills and three aces.  

The Pride owned a 14-11 edge in the first set after Anderson blistered an ace into the corner, but the visitors would score the next three points to even things up.  Neither team would lead by more than two points, and in a frame that featured eight ties, York would tie things up one last time at 23-all on an ace.  However, back-to-back Pride miscues gave NYU the 25-23 win.  The Violets hit an impressive .526 in the set.

NYU set the tone early in the second set from the end line, as three consecutive aces gave the visitors a lead they would not relinquish.  Springfield's serve receive struggled throughout the stanza, and NYU would go on to lead by as many as eight points en route to the 25-17 win. 

Springfield had a tremendous start to the third, as Stiven Topalli (Pogradec, Albania) deal atn ace to force the visitors into a timeout at 9-6. The Pride's offense continued to be impressive, and York buried his sixth kill of the frame to give the hosts a 22-16 edge.  However, NYU would respond with five-straight points thanks to some outstanding serving from Li to pull within 22-21.  Four points later, Springfield would earn set point on a kill by Anderson, but consecutive miscues from the Pride gave the Violets a match point of their own.  Lilley and Parker would combine for a block to keep the visitors at bay, but Ferraro converted out of the middle and then teammed with Ryan Whealean for the match-clinching block.