Hoboken, N.J. – April 19, 2024 – In the first meeting between the two teams since the 2014 NCAA Division III National Championship match, No. 6 ranked Juniata College defeated No. 13 ranked Springfield College in a five set thriller (25-18, 25-21, 14-25, 22-25, 22-20) on Friday evening in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament on the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology.

Juniata pushed its record to 26-6 and will take on hosts and No. 2 Stevens in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament tomorrow evening at 6:00 pm from inside Canavan Arena, while Springfield, which appeared in its 11th NCAA Tournament, closed its season with a record of 19-7.  Tonight was the ninth time this season that Springfield played in a five-set match. 

Chris Rouleau (Bay Shore, N.Y.) led the offense for Springfield with 15 kills and a .565 hitting percentage. Both Evan Costley (Simi Valley, Calif.) and AJ Seveland (Oberusel, Germany) registered 11 kills apiece, while Carter Durivage (East Greenbush, N.Y.) and Will Kirchhoff (Macedon, N.Y.) nine kills in the setback. Kirchhoff and Seveland hit .643 and .600, respectively, and Ethan Weislo (Orchard Park, N.Y.) came off the bench to hand out 37 assists. 

Juniata won the opening set, 25-18, as the Golden Eagles hit at a .500 clip with 17 kills. The Pride tallied three straight points on a swing by Rouleau and two errors from Juniata to tie the set at eight before the Golden Eagles responded with a 9-2 run to push their lead to seven at 17-10. Springfield came as close as five points late in the set following a swing by Costley, but a kill by Tyler Goldsborough and a service error by the Pride gave Juniata a 25-18 win in the first stanza.

The first half of the second set featured five ties with the final one coming at 6-6 before Juniata embarked on a 7-2 run to pull ahead by a 13-8 score. Sandwiched between a timeout called by Springfield, Juniata capped the spurt on an ace by Goldsborough and a kill by Campbell Gerdeman. The Pride was able to cut its deficit to three at 20-17 and 24-21 late in the set following a swing by Kirchhoff and an ace by Seveland, but a kill by Chris Mellor gave the Golden Eagles the set, 25-21.

Seveland would connect for an ace down the line to help Springfield race out to a 8-2 lead as it ran away with a 25-14 win. The Pride's offense found its groove in the third set and fueled by five kills from Seveland as the squad totaled 15 kills as a team at a .619 clip. 

Springfield would extend a 15-10 lead midway through the fourth on a kill from Rouleau, only to have Juniata answer back with a late push of their own to get within 21-20.  However, Rouleau would answer with a kill and team up with Durviage for a huge block to force the Eagles into a timeout at 23-20.  Out of the break, Seveland would connect for an ace for set point and Weislo later hammered a swing in transition for the 25-22 triumph.

The fifth set featured eight ties and proved to a clash in which both programs had multiple match points.  Costley would chip a ball down the line to to give Springfield an 8-5 lead at the switch before Rouleau blistered an ace to give Springfield the first of its sixth match points at 14-12.  Juniata showed plenty of resolve, scoring the next two points as the teams would go back-and-forth before being tied for the final time at 20-20.  A service error by the Pride and block by Juniata would conclude the match as the Eagles earned the win over the Pride on the national stage. 

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