Springfield, Mass. – March 6, 2024 – In its final match before Spring Break, the Springfield College men's volleyball team was clipped by visiting New Paltz in five sets on Wednesday evening in Blake Arena.  The Hawks prevailed by the scores of 25-21, 25-19, 17-25, 14-25, 15-10. 

For the Pride, it marked its fifth five-set match of the season and the first that it had dropped, as the the nation's fourth-ranked team in the most recent AVCA National Poll dipped to 15-3.  The Hawks moved to 14-8 with the victory. 

Chris Rouleau (Bay Shore, N.Y.) recorded a team-best 11 kills at a .667 clip in the middle to go along with four blocks while Dylan Mulvaney (Reston, Va.) tallied 41 assists, six digs, five blocks, and three aces in directing Springfield to a .381 hitting percentage.  Both Evan Costley (Simi Valley, Calif.) and Giancarlo Carrion (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) turned in nine kills apiece.   

New Paltz was led by Pat Wing, who posted a match-high 19 kills to go along with three of the Hawks 12 service aces. 

Rouleau bounced a ball to even things up at 12-12 in the first set before Wing would delivered two aces and two kills as part of a 4-0 push to give the visitors a 16-13 advantage.  The Hawks would cruise to a 25-21 win behind seven kills from Wing as they hit .423 as a team. 

The second set featured 15 ties and seven lead changes and it was a solo block from Joel DeCamp (Simi Valley, Calif.) which allowed the Pride to take its last lead at 16-15.  Wing would get a side out kill and then go back to the end line where he rattled off the next four points to help the Hawks lead grow to 20-16.  New Paltz would outkill the hosts by a 15-7 margin in the frame, with Wing accounting for another six kills, in the 25-19 win. 

Carrion crafted a kill around the block to help Springfield storm out to a 15-7 lead in the third as the hosts would limit New Paltz to a -.042 hitting percentage to coast to a 25-17 win.  The Pride carried that momentum into the fourth, registering 14 kills on a .591 hitting percentage.  Even at 4-4, the Pride put together a 6-1 push that was capped off by Costley swiping a kill off the block.  Carrion and Rouleau could combine for seven kills in the set and Carter Durviage (East Greenbush, N.Y.) converted out of the back row for the 25-14 triumph.

New Paltz earned a 3-2 lead on a transition kill from Krish Jain but Ethan Walters (St. Louis, Mo.) would thump a cross-court kill to knot things at 8-8.  The Hawks would score the next three points and the Pride's fifth service error of the stanza would complete the 15-10 victory.  

Springfield will next play on March 23 when it hosts a tri-match with Russell Sage and Hunter beginning at 11 am.

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