Irvine, Calif. – January 17, 2025 – The Springfield College men's volleyball team was edged by Division II Concordia Irvine in straight sets by scores of 25-20, 25-20, 25-22 on Friday night in California to open the 2025 campaign.

Concordia moved to 3-1 overall, while Springfield dropped to 0-1 to start the season.

Chris Rouleau (Bay Shore, N.Y.) led Springfield's offense with 10 kills on 14 errorless swings (.714), while in his Springfield debut Jake DesLauriers (Eastport, N.Y.) hit .389 with nine kills. Reigning AVCA National Newcomer of the Year posted six kills as well for the Pride, while Dylan Mulvaney (Reston, Va.) dished out 30 assists. Concordia was paced by Ties Cornelissen with ten kills (.412) and as a team the Golden Eagles registered 11 service aces.

In the tightly contested match, the score stood even on 14 different occasions, including eight times in the second set.

Tied at nine in the first, Springfield produced a 6-2 run for a 15-11 lead midway through the stanza following an error by the hosts as Levinson and Rouleau sparked the Pride's offense during the spurt. Concordia answered and eventually took a 16-15 lead with an ace and eventually built its lead to as many as six at 23-17 following a swing by Cornelissen en route to the 25-20 set one win.

After eight tie scores in the second – the final time coming at 19 – Concordia closed the set with five of the next six points to take it 25-20. The Golden Eagles used two kills by Cornelissen back-to-back blocks, an ace and a kill by Colin Marks for the final score.

DesLauriers and Rouleau combined for nine of Springfield's 11 kills in the third as the duo hit 9-1-14 (.571). After the score was knotted at two following a kill by DesLauriers Gage Doble gave Concordia a lead it wouldn't relinquish. Springfield got back as close as two after Brennan Cutter (Trumbull, Conn.) recorded his third kill of the night, but the Golden Eagles went on to finish the sweep with a 25-22 win in the third.

After a pair of exhibitions in California on Saturday, Springfield will return home for its Division III opener at Hunter College on Friday, January 24 at 6:00 pm.

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