Springfield, Mass. - February 3, 2024 - The Springfield College men's volleyball team won the International Volleyball Hall of Fame Morgan Classic Championship on Saturday night in a straight-set victory over Lasell. The Pride won by the scores of 25-21, 25-17, 25-22.
Springfield, which was ranked seventh in the latest AVCA Division III National Coaches Poll, improved to 7-1 on the season. Appearing in its 12th-straight Morgan Classic Championship match, this marks the ninth time, and eight-consecutive instance in the 36-year history of the tournament that Springfield has been crowned the champion. The loss dropped the Lasers to 4-4.
Dylan Mulvaney (Reston, Va.) was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Classic as he led the Pride to a .351 hitting percentage with 26 assists to go along with 11 digs, four kills, and an ace.
Chris Rouleau (Bay Shore, N.Y.) contributed five kills, five aces, three blocks and
Sam Levinson (La Grange, Ill.) tallied eight kills and three blocks as the duo was selected to the All-Tournament Team.
Lasell's Jordan Shinaut totaled a match-high nine kills and Jesus Garcia produced 22 assists and six digs.
The Pride fell behind 7-4 after the Lasers combined for a triple block to force the hosts into an early timeout. Springfield would respond with a 6-2 run to take the lead following a Lasell attack error and would force the visitors into a timeout at 20-17 on an overpass kill by
Evan Costley (Simi Valley, Calif.). Mulvaney would complete the 25-21 win with Springfield's 13
th kill of the set as five players had at least two kills for the Pride.
Rouleau blistered back-to-back aces to cap off a five-point burst as Springfield seized an early 7-1 cushion in the second. An ace from
Noah Weislo (Orchard Park, N.Y.) allowed Springfield's lead to balloon at 14-6 and the Pride never looked back en route to the 25-17 win. Springfield hit at a .524 clip in the stanza, with Levinson and
Ethan Walters (St. Louis, Mo.) each having four kills.
Springfield called for a timeout down 8-6 in the third, but bounced back to even things up at 11 after Rouleau again ripped consecutive aces. The set would be tied up for the 10
th time at 16-16, but Levinson would side out with a kill to kickstart a six-point run which he concluded with an ace at 22-16.
Brennan Cutter (Trumbull, Conn.) sealed the win with a big swing out of the middle as Springfield earned the sweep hitting .417 in the third.
On Wednesday, Springfield will head to New York City to square off with NYU at 6 pm. .
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All-Classic Team
Endicott - Aidan Iacovelli
Vassar – Jacob Kim
Lasell – Jesus Garcia
Lasell – Jordan Shinaut
Springfield -Sam Levinson
Springfield – Chris Rouleau
Springfield – Dylan Mulvaney (MOP)
