No. 6 SPRINGFIELD TOPS MEN’S VOLLEYBALL, 3-0

BOSTON, Mass. – The Springfield College men's volleyball team combined to hit .470 en route to a 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-20) victory over host Emmanuel College on Wednesday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center Gymnasium. With the victory, the Pride who received 163 votes for a No. 6 ranking in the most recent AVCA D-III Men's Volleyball Coaches Poll, improve to 18-6 overall while the loss drops the Saints to 8-11 on the year.

Following a kill by Emmanuel junior middle Garrett McGarry (Chicago, Ill.) to put the Saints up 1-0 in the opening set, Springfield rattled off five consecutive points behind the service game of senior setter Keaton Pieper (Dallas, Texas) to take control the opening frame. The Pride rolled to a 25-11 win in which they hit a gaudy .765 in the set (14 kills, one error, 17 attempts) led by a four kill effort by junior Greg Woods (Middletown, Conn.).

Emmanuel showed signs of life in the second set, racing out to an early 6-2 lead following an ace by senior opposite Austin Cockerill (Darien, Conn.). The lead would dwindle as the Pride hitting game heated up and a kill by Woods evened the score at 13-13 midway through the set. The squads would trade points as a kill by EC senior outside Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.) made it 16-16 and moments later, another Jackson kill would give the Saints the lead at 21-20. On the crucial next serve, the Saints put the ball in the net to even the score at 21-all before Springfield rattled off four straight points to close the door on set two, 25-21.

Set three had a familiar feel to set two, with close action early on. Woods put the Pride on top 7-5 with a thunderous kill at the net but the Saints would claim the lead at 10-9 following a service miscue by the visitors. The race would continue and following another Springfield error to even the match at 16-16, Pride Head Coach Charlie Sullivan burned a timeout to settle his squad down and it worked like a charm. Out of the timeout, Springfield got back-to-back points to take the lead for good on the way to a 25-20 win.

Woods led all players with 16 kills while hitting .542 from the floor while freshman outside hitter Ricardo Padilla Ayala (San Juan, Puerto Rico) added eight kills. Keaton finished the match with 35 assists.

For the Saints, Jackson posted 15 kills while senior setter Sean Baxley dished out 25 helpers.

Emmanuel returns to action on Saturday, April 4 in a crucial GNAC tri-match against Mount Ida College and Johnson & Wales University with a potential home playoff game on the line. The Pride host SUNY New Paltz and Southern Vermont the same day with both tri-matches kicking off at 12:00 PM.