Irvine, Calif. - January 12, 2024 – The Springfield College men's volleyball team fell in its season opener to Division II Concordia University Irvine tonight in Southern California in straight sets by scores of 25-23, 25-19, 25-20.

Junior Chris Rouleau (Bay Shore, N.Y.) hit at a .455 clip and led Springfield with seven kills to go along with two aces and three blocks. Classmate Giancarlo Carrion (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) added seven kills for the Pride, while sophomore Dylan Mulvaney (Reston, Va.) dished out 23 assists, tallied three digs and three blocks.

Springfield trailed 5-2 early in the first before kills from Rouleau and Carter Durivage (East Greenbush, N.Y.) as well as an ace from Ethan Walters (St. Louis, Mo.) knotted the score at 5-5. With the score even at 7-7, Concordia ripped off seven straight points that included a pair of kills by Ties Cornelissen before a swing by Brennan Cutter (Trumbull, Conn.) ended the spurt with the score at 14-8 in favor of the Golden Eagles midway through the first.

Later in the set, back-to-back block assists – one from Rouleau and Mulvaney and one from Mulvaney and Cutter - paired with an ace from Rouleau cut Springfield's deficit to just two at 18-16 forcing Concordia to burn a timeout. Both teams traded points until a swing off the block from Rouleau and a Concordia error pulled Springfield within one at 23-22. A service error for the Pride and a kill from Christian Galoppo gave the Golden Eagles a 25-23 set one win.

Midway through the second, a swing by Evan Costley (Simi Valley, Calif.) cut Springfield's deficit to just two at 12-10. Concordia, however, tallied three straight points and forced the Pride to call a timeout. The short spurt by the Golden Eagles was all the hosts needed as they hit .364 in the stanza en route to a 25-19 win in set two.

Springfield took its first lead of the match in the third set at 8-7 following a kill from Carrion and an error from Concordia. Springfield held a slim 15-14 edge before Concordia pulled off a 9-1 run to pull ahead by a 22-16 score. The Pride got four back on a pair of kills by Rouleau and two Golden Eagles errors, but the hosts secured the sweep with a 25-20 set three win.

Springfield will play a trio of exhibition matches in California this weekend before returning back east for their next contest against Emmanuel College on Thursday, January 18 at 7:00 pm in Blake Arena.

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