Springfield, the current #1 team in NCAA Division III according to the AVCA poll, completed the comeback against Harvard in Cambridge. It was the Pride’s second win in three tries against the Crimson. #18 Concordia-Irvine overwhelmed Hope International, an NAIA member.
Further details listed below.
MATCH STATS
- #1 (DIII) Springfield def. Harvard, 3-2 (17-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 15-11)
- Springfield improves to 6-1; Harvard drops to 1-3
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Box score
- Springfield recap/Harvard recap
Key Stats: Springfield won most of the statistical battles, including hitting percentage (.200-.159), kills (51-48), aces (9-6), and digs (66-51). Harvard’s only advantage was its size, outblocking the Pride, 14.5-9.
Stat Leaders: Springfield had three players in double-digit kills on the night. Freshman opposite Kenny Lawrence led all attackers with a match-high 15 kills. He also completed the double-double with 14 digs while pounding a match-high 5 aces against Harvard. Sergio Figueroa Velez added 13 kills. Ricardo Padilla Ayala finished with 12.
Harvard’s lone double-digit kill producer was Erik Johnson, who finished with 13 kills and 5 blocks. Trevor Dow‘s consistent blocking helped Harvard to a 2-1 lead, leading all net defenders with 9 blocks. Marko Kostich dug a career-high 15 balls to lead the match.
It Was Over When: Harvard took a quick 4-1 lead to start the 5th set, but Springfield beat the Crimson to the side-change at 8-7. The Pride kept the lead for good on the first play after the switch with a solo block from Joseth Irizarri on Harvard’s Trevor Dow. It was Springfield’s only block of the 5th set. From there, Springfield scored 5 of their last 6 points off of kills.
MATCH STATS
- #18 Concordia-Irvine def. Hope International (NAIA), 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 25-19, 25-21)
- CUI moves to 3-2; Hope drops to 1-4
- Irvine, California
- Box score
- CUI recap/Hope recap
Key Stats: Concordia’s hiccup in the first set to NAIA member Hope International was only holding off the inevitable, as CUI dominated offensively. CUI led in hitting percentage (.344-.134), kills (67-34), blocks (11-4) and digs (37-35).
Stat Leaders: CUI middle blocker Hunter Howell produced a career-high 20 kills for the Eagles, which is the most for a middle in school history. It also was the 2nd-most kills for any Eagle in a four-set match. Howell also finished with the highest hitting percentage among attackers with a .643 clip, while also leading the match in blocks with 5. He was joined offensively by Jonathan Predney with 15 kills. Predney narrowly missed a double-double with 9 digs. Rounding out the double-digit killers for the Eagles was Raymond Barsemian with 13.
The Royals were led by Tyler Greene with 11 kills and 8 digs. Six of those eleven kills came in set one. Nicolas Bilinski finished with 9 kills on the evening.
It Was Over When: Concordia went on mid-set runs in the 2nd (6-0), 3rd (4-0) and 4th (5-1) sets to stifle the upstart Royals. The second-set run was punctuated by kills from Barsemian and Predney and blocks from Howell. The third-set run was created off of unforced errors from Hope. The fourth-set 5-1 run was all CUI; one attack error by the Eagles and five kills from four different Eagles all but sealed the match comfortably for the hosts.
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