2006-07 News Archives
Springfield College Men's Volleyball Prepares For 2007
Molten Division III Invitational Championship
Springfield, Mass., April 9, 2007 - The Springfield
College men's volleyball team, under the direction of nine-year
Head Coach Charlie Sullivan, has played its way into this season's
Molten Division III Invitational Championship. The four-team
championship, hosted by three-time defending champion Juniata
College, will be held at Memorial Gymnasium in the Kennedy Sports
and Recreation Center in Huntingdon, Pa., on Friday and Saturday,
April 13th and 14th.
The Pride is in search of its fifth national championship overall
and first since it won three consecutive titles from 2001-'03. SC
earned a berth into this year's Molten by qualifying for the
Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) Division III
Championship, a match in which the fourth-ranked Pride upset No. 2
Juniata, 3-0 (30-25, 38-36, 30-25) on Saturday (Apr. 7). Carthage
College and the Stevens Institute of Technology are the other two
teams competing for the crown this weekend. Carthage received an
invitation as an at-large selection representing the Midwest and
West regions, and Stevens claimed the championship of the North
East Collegiate Volleyball Championship (NECVA) to earn an
automatic bid.
The semifinals will be held at 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Friday,
April 13th. On Saturday, April 14th, the
consolation match will be held at 5:00 p.m., followed by the
championship match at 8:00 p.m. Ticket prices are $5 for adults, $3
for students with identification, and $2 for children under 12. The
seedings and match-ups for this weekend's championship play will be
announced at a later time.
With SC's victory on Saturday afternoon at Juniata College in the
EIVA Division III Championship, the Pride has accumulated an 18-8
overall record on the season. SC finished its EIVA Hay Division
campaign with an 8-2 record, which is currently good for second
place. The Pride's 3-0 victory at Juniata on Saturday marked the
first loss for the Eagles (13-7) against a Division III opponent
since 2004 when SC knocked off Juniata (3-1), a stretch that lasted
32 matches.
Heading into this weekend's Division III championship action, the
Pride has recorded an impressive 9-3 overall record against
Division III foes this season. Sophomore opposite Ryan Fredrickson
(Manahawkin, N.J.) has led the way for SC against DIII squads,
racking up a team-high 121 kills (3.90/game). Freshman outside
hitter AJ Nally (Rochester, N.Y.) is right behind Fredrickson with
120 kills against Division III teams, good for a 3.43 kill-per-game
average. The first-year has also registered 80 digs (2.29/game).
Leading the team in digs against DIII competition is junior libero
Brandon Waas (Spencerport, N.Y.) with 91 (2.68/game), and leading
the way in blocking is sophomore middle blocker Andy Sipe (New
Oxford, Pa.) with 67 (1.76/game).
Overall this season, in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball
Association (EIVA) rankings, Sipe is currently second in blocks
(145 total, 1.67/game) and seventh in hitting percentage (.425).
The Pride currently has two players ranked amongst the top ten in
digs, with Nally ranked seventh (195 total, 2.32/game), and Waas
ranked ninth (170 total, 2.30/game). Junior outside hitter Eric
Palumbo (Chili, N.Y.), who suffered a season-ending knee injury, is
still ranked fourth in the EIVA in service aces (23 total,
0.47/game) and sixth in kills (215 total, 4.39/game). SC as a team
is the top-ranked squad in the EIVA in digs with an average of
11.24 per game (1,012 total).












