New Paltz, N.Y. - March 4, 2026 - The No. 1 Springfield College men's volleyball team fell in five sets for the second straight match this time to No. 12 New Paltz by sets of 25-20, 18-25, 25-15, 22-25, 14-16 on Wednesday night inside the Hawk Center.

Springfield fell to 11-3, while New Paltz improved to 15-5 overall. The Pride and the Hawks split the season series this year, a series which becomes a conference rivalry next season, after the Pride won in four sets in Blake Arena a few weeks back.

Dylan Mulvaney (Reston, Va.) dished out 43 assists tonight becoming the fourth student-athlete in program history to eclipse 3,000 career assists joining Tucker Short '03 (4,728), Eric Shoemaker '10 (4,046) and Bret Stothart '98 (3,931).

Carter Durivage (East Greenbush, N.Y.) posted 16 kills to lead Springfield's offense, while Sam Levinson (LaGrange, Ill.) added 12 kills and seven digs. Ricardo Ortiz (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) led the Pride with 15 digs, while Richard Eber Jr. (Hummelstown, Pa.) notched a team-best three aces. Nikko Tenedorio paced New Paltz with 16 kills and hit .438 on the night.

It was a back-and-forth start as a pair of Springfield early three-point spurts helped the Pride eventually get the win 25-20. Two straight kills from Durivage and a kill from Mulvaney saw the Pride take a 6-3 lead and then a block from Will Kirchhoff (Macedon, N.Y.) and Nathan Goh (Germantown, Md.) followed by back-to-back errors from New Paltz gave Springfield the 9-5 lead. Three straight kills from Brennan Cutter (Trumbull, Conn.), Durivage and Levinson allowed the Pride to take a 17-12 lead as the Hawks just could not come back from the deficit. 

The Pride held a 21-19 edge before kills from Levinson and Cutter paired with two errors from New Paltz gave the Pride the first, 25-20. Springfield hit a match high .464 in the first before hitting lower than .200 over the middle three stanzas.

New Paltz tallied the first eight points of the second and eventually led 11-2 before the Pride stormed back to pull within three following a swing by Durivage and an error by the hosts. New Paltz maintained its three point lead until it was 19-16 when the Hawks tallied six of the final eight points to win the second, 25-18.

In the third, Springfield took an early 5-1 lead highlighted by an ace from Eber Jr. New Paltz climbed back within one at 6-5 before the Pride ripped off six of the next seven points to regain an edge this time, 12-6. Once again New Paltz cut its deficit to just two, but Springfield responded with seven of the next eight points and led 20-12 after an ace from Levinson. A kill from Jake DesLauriers (Eastport, N.Y.) and an error by New Paltz gave Springfield the third, 25-15.

Springfield led 14-13 midway through the fourth, but New Paltz went on a 9-2 run to forge ahead 22-16. Springfield held its own and was able to fend off three straight set points on two New Paltz and a kill from Goh, but a New Paltz ace sent the match to the fifth.

A kill from Durivage put Springfield ahead 5-3 early in the fifth, but the Hawks were able to even the score at five, eight and nine before Levinson pushed the Pride ahead 11-9. New Paltz once again knotted the score at 11, 12 and 14 before two straight Springfield errors made it match point for the Hawks. Tenedorio ripped the ball off the Springfield block as the Hawks won the fifth 16-14 and the match in five. 

Springfield will look to bounce back on Saturday as the Pride host Hunter and Elms in tri-match in Blake Arena on Saturday beginning at 1:00 pm.

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