2013 NCAA MEN’S VOLLEYBALL Springfi eld hopes to extend NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball run
2013, but it won’t be on the Pride’s home fl oor.
S
The NCAA Division III Men’s Vol- leyball Committee selected the Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technology to replace Stevens Institute of Technol- ogy as host for the 2013 champion- ships. The NCAA relocated six 2013 championships in October from New Jersey because of a new state law there allowing sports wagering on professional and collegiate games. It’s a safe bet that Springfi eld, which will lean on returning Most Out- standing Player Mike Pelletier, will be one of the eight teams to earn berths to the championships to be played at the duPont Athletic Center on MIT’s campus in Cambridge, Mass., on April 26-28. Springfi eld won the inaugural NCAA Divi-
sion III Men’s Volleyball Championship on its home fl oor by defeating Carthage 3-0 in the fi nals. The monumental victory capped a late- season run that saw the Pride win 21 straight matches. They were also 18-0 at home. Pel-
pringfi eld College will look to repeat as the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball champions in
liam Morgan, who is credited with inventing the sport of volleyball in 1894, is an alum.
THE PRIDE: Springfi eld College will try to defend its NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball title. (Photo: Springfi eld College)
letier is only part of the reason for optimism this spring on the Springfi eld College. Middle blocker Greg Falcone (Lindenhurst,
N.Y.) and outside hitter Angel Perez (Naranjito, Puerto Rico) were both AVCA All-America First- Team selections last year. Pelletier, Falcone and Perez were three reasons Springfi eld led the nation in hitting percentage last season with a .381 mark. Springfi eld’s volleyball roots run deep. Wil-
Charlie Sullivan, who enters his 15th season as the school’s head coach, has twice been named the AVCA Division III Men’s Volleyball National Coach of the Year – including 2012. The Pride has won six national titles, but the inaugural NCAA version among 57 NCAA Division III teams was the most signifi cant. Springfi eld will be challenged in 2013 by national runner-up Carthage, which returns fi rst-
team AVCA All-Americans Connor Wexter (New Lenox, Ill.) and Pat Barry (Skokie, Ill.).
Juniata, the last team to beat Springfi eld, may also be in the mix with sophomore middle blocker Joe Bortak (Jeannette, Pa.). MIT hopes to come to its own championship party behind the play of returning AVCA All-American Matt Hohenberger (St. Louis, Mo.). UC Santa Cruz reached the national semifi nals last season and returns Salvatore La Cavera (Huntington Beach, Calif.), who had 21 kills in the loss to Carthage.
26 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
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