Springfield, Mass. – March 6, 2024 – Playing for the first time since March 6, the Springfield College men's volleyball team returned to action and swept Russell Sage and Hunter on Saturday in Blake Arena.
Ranked seventh in this week's AVCA National Poll, the Pride pushed its record to 17-3 on the year.
The Pride will travel to Eastern Nazerene on Wednesday for a 6 pm tilt.
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Springfield 3, Sage 0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-8)
Springfield showed no rust after two weeks away from competition as they hit .569 in the victory and totaled 10 aces.
Ethan Weislo (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and
Paolo Mondini (Bollingbrook, Ill.) combined for 28 assists in running the offense that had nine student-athletes with at least two kills.
Noah Weislo (Orchard Park, N.Y.) totaled a team-best eight kills,
Carter Durivage (East Greenbush, N.Y.) added seven kills, and
Joel DeCamp (Simi Valley, Calif.) racked up a match-best five clocks.
Cole Kallick (Redondo Beach, Calif.) had three of the Pride's 10 aces and
Tyler Simmons (Enfield, Conn.) was credited with six digs.
Trailing 3-2 in the opening set, Springfield burned a quick timeout and the Pride responded with 12-straight points and used an ace from Kallick to to go up 14-3. DeCamp would account for four blocks in the frame to help limit the Gators to a -.043 hitting percentage and
Reed Bonkovsky (Richmond, Va.) put away a kill to seal the 25-11 win.
Durivage would blast a kill to give Springfield a 12-3 cushion in the second as the hosts coasted to a 25-15 win in which they hit .556. In the third,
Ethan Weislo turned on a ball at the net for a kill to make it a 7-1 contest to put the Pride in control early. Springfield would again hold Sage to a negative team hitting percentage and just three kills in the set while hitting .579 themselves.
Noah Weislo accounted for four kills in the set and
James Browning (Santa Monica, Calif.) connected for the Pride's 10th ace of the match for the 25-8 triumph.
Springfield 3, Hunter 0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-21)
Chris Rouleau (Bay Shore, N.Y.) was dominant in the sweep as he racked up a match-high 11 kills in the middle at a .667 clip to go along with four blocks.
Dylan Mulvaney (Reston, Va.) totaled 26 assists in helping Springfield hit .306 as a team and
Giancarlo Carrio (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) ripped four the Pride's 11 aces. The hosts limited Hunter to a -.091 hitting percentage in the setback.
In the opening set, Springfield scored the first three points, getting a pair of aces from Carrion, and would force the visitors into a timeout at 13-6 after Carrion blistered another winner from the service line. In a frame where Hunter would commit eight attack errors, Springfield would cruise to a 25-11 win, getting a swing from Carrion down the line in transition to seal the opener.
Trailing 10-8 in the second, Rouleau keyed a 7-1 push as he delivered three kills and
Ethan Walters (St. Louis, Mo.) elevated for a stuff block on the pin to give the Pride a 15-11 edge.
Ethan Weislo would find the seam for Springfield's eighth service ace of the evening to cap off the 25-17 triumph.
After a back-and-forth start to the third set, the Pride broke open the 8-8 gridlock with a 7-1 push that featured two blocks and a kill from Rouleau and aces by Carrion and Weislo. Hunter would take advantage of several Springfield attack errors down the stretch to get within 22-18, but Walters connected on consecutive kills to push the Pride to the 25-21 win.
