Poughkeepsie, N.Y. - April 21, 2023 - The Springfield College men's volleyball team was upended in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament on Friday afternoon by Southern Virginia University in Kenyon Hall on the campus of Vassar College.  The Knights won by the scores of 25-15, 25-22, 19-25, 21-25, 17-15.

Springfield, which was ranked sixth in the most recent AVCA Division III National Coaches Poll, dropped to 23-5 on the season.  Southern Virginia, ranked ninth nationally, advanced to the national quarterfinals and is now 18-3 on the year. 

Making its 10th appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, Springfield was led by Jarrett Anderson (Largo, Fla.) as he tallied 23 kills to pace the Pride.  Anderson became the 11th student-athlete in program history to reach the 1,000 career kill milestone, a feat he achieved early in the fourth set.  Dylan Mulvaney (Reston, Va.) handed out 43 assists, Noah Weislo (Orchard Park, N.Y.) accounted for 12 kills, four digs, and three aces, Braden Gonzales (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) was credited with a match-best 11 digs, and Chris Rouleau (Bay Shore, N.Y.) led all players with seven blocks. 

For SVU, Christian Sheaffer tallied 23 kills on a .556 hitting percentage, Mckay Walker chipped in 14 kills, and Tyler Seaffter was criedted with 53 assists in leading the Knights to a .395 hitting percentage. 

After opening up a 9-7 lead early in the first set, Southern Virginia would rattle off seven-consecutive points, including back-to-back aces out of a Springfield timeout to have their lead balloon to 16-7.   The Knights, who hit .579 in the opening frame, would cruise to a 25-15 victory after they put away a kill in system out of the middle.   Anderson would account for four kills in the opening set for the Pride.

After Anderson elevated for a stuff block on the pin to knot things up at 6-6 in the second, the Knights would respond with a 3-0 burst, putting away an overpass for the 9-6 cushion.  The lead would grow to 16-9 when SVU snuffed out a Springfield backrow attack, but the Pride would respond with a 10-4 surge of their own as the Knights committed just their fifth attack error of the night to pull the Pride within 20-19.  Rouleau would hammer a ball in system for 22-21, but the Knights closed out the stanza on 3-1 surge to take the 25-22 triumph. The Knights would register 18 kills at a .538 clip in the stanza.

Anderson hammered a ball down in the line in transition to give Springfield an early 4-2 lead before Rouleau and Costley would combine for a block on the pin to make it 10-6.   Out of a media timeout, Weislo would find the back line for an ace at 16-11 and cushion would grow to 22-16 on a triple block by Weislo, Anderson, and DeCamp.  The Knights eighth service error of would complete the 25-19 win for the Pride as it hit .647, producing 11 kills on 17 errorless attempts, including seven off the arm of Anderson. 

Weislo would tool the block in transition at 4-2 in the fourth, before two-straight attack errors by the Knights forced them into a timeout at 7-3.  The lead would continue to grow at 15-8 on a triple block by Rouleau, Costley, and Mulvaney, and despite SVU getting as close as three points, Anderson put away his sixth kill of the stanza for the 25-21 win to force the fifth. 

Springfield did the majority of its damage from the end line in the final stanza, as it racked up five aces.  In a frame that featured 11 ties and four lead changes, Ryan Roller (West Hartford, Conn.) would rip an ace off the bench to put Springfield in control at 11-8, only to have the Knights take advantage of three-straight Pride miscues to tie the set up.  Rouleau and Costley combined for a huge block out of the break to give Springfield its final lead of he night, as SVU took advantage of a Pride service error and then registered just their third ace of the night to go ahead 13-12.  The teams would then trade the next five points, only to have Sheaffer convert a kill off a roll shot and the Pride committ its sixth attack error of the set to conclude the 17-15 win. 

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