Albany, N.Y. – February 18, 2025 – The Springfield College men's volleyball team defeated Russell Sage in four sets by scores of 25-15, 25-13, 24-26, 25-12 on Tuesday evening picking up its tenth win of the season.

Springfield, which was ranked No. 7 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association's (AVCA) Division III national poll, improved to 10-2, while Sage dropped to 3-15.

AJ Seveland (Jenkintown, Pa.) led Springfield with nine kills and three aces, while Joey Preische (Penfield, N.Y.) posted eight kills of his own. Will Kirchhoff (Macedon, N.Y.) hit .636 with seven kills on 11 errorless swings in addition to three aces and two blocks. Dyllan Nguyen (Fountain Valley, Calif.) registered 27 assists, while Ricardo Ortiz (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) led the Pride with seven digs. As a team, Springfield hit .423 with 41 kills on the night. Dylan Fox hit .583 and led Sage with 17 of the team's 34 kills.

Springfield hit .688 in the first with 11 kills on 16 swings. Springfield recorded seven kills on its first seven swings of the match and then used back-to-back aces from Seveland for a 12-8 advantage in the first. Seveland led the charge in the opening set for the Pride with four kills and two aces. A swing by Brennan Cutter (Trumbull, Conn.), an error by Sage and back-to-back aces secured the opening stanza for Springfield, 25-15.

Springfield scored seven of the first eight points of the second set capped on a big block in the middle by Carter Durivage (East Greenbush, N.Y.) and Cutter. Later in the set, a pair of kills from Kirchhoff extended Springfield's lead to 14-7 before a brief 5-1 spurt that featured a pair of kills from Preische as well as an ace and a kill from Evan Costley (Simi Valley, Calif.) pushed the score to 22-10. Swings by Preische and Kirchhoff capped the set at 25-13 for the Pride. Springfield hit .450 (11-2-20) with three aces and four blocks in the second.

The third set saw Springfield hit just .143 with eight kills despite holding a 23-21 edge late in the stanza. Sage used a kill by Wylkins Occelin, a block and a Pride error for a 24-23 lead forcing Springfield to burn a timeout. Springfield fended off one set point on a swinging error by the hosts, but a kill by Fox and an error by the Pride gave Sage the third, 26-24.

Springfield scored the first four points of the fourth and ballooned its advantage to eight at 10-2 following a kill and an ace from Seveland. Then, kills from Seveland and Preische forced Sage to call a timeout down by nine before a quick 4-1 spurt for the Pride pushed the lead to 12. Kyle Johnson (Sunnyvale, Calif.) registered a pair of kills down the stretch before an ace by Nguyen sealed the win for Springfield.

Springfield will host third-ranked Vassar College on Saturday evening in Blake Arena at 6:00 pm.

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