THE BASICS:
-
Score:
MIT - 3, No. 4 Springfield - 1, (25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 27-25)
-
Records: MIT (15-13), Springfield (22-4)
- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Rockwell Cage)
- The Lead: For the first time since 2017, the MIT men's volleyball team earned a victory over Springfield as the Engineers earned a thrilling upset of the fourth-ranked Pride in four sets on Senior Day in Rockwell Cage. The win also snapped Springfield's 11-match winning streak.
Before the match, the Engineers honored their five-member senior class of:
Albert Luo (Dallas, Texas),
Troy Oliveira (San Diego, Calif),
Nick Gustafson (San Diego, Calif.),
Justin Li (Fremont, Calif.), and
Dylan Ryan (Oviedo, Fla).
HOW IT HAPPENED
-
Set 1: Down 15-14, MIT rattled off four-straight points to take an 18-15 lead. A kill from Oliveira put MIT up 21-17, but the Pride scored the next two points to pull to within two. Springfield then made it a 22-21 set, but the Engineers held on as a Pride attack error gave the Engineers a 25-22 set one victory.
-
Set 2: A 4-0 run punctuated by a kill from Luo put MIT up 10-6. The Engineers continued to hold onto the lead, but Springfield used a 5-0 run to make it a 19-18 set. Oliveira ended the run with a kill, and Gustafson followed with another kill to make the score 21-18, and MIT went onto win set two 25-22 on a Springfield service error.
-
Set 3: In an exciting set that featured 17 ties and four lead changes, neither team was able to pull away in the set. Junior
Phillip Johnson (Chandler, Ariz.) tied the set at 18 and after Springfield took a timeout with the set tied at 20, the Pride scored the next five points to stay in the match and force a fourth set.
-
Set 4: Set four exceeded the excitement of the previous set as the teams played to 18 ties with eight lead changes. Sophomore
Grant Oh (Irvine, Calif.) gave MIT a 10-8 advantage, but Springfield used a 5-3 run to go ahead 14-13. Trailing 22-18, a Luo kill started the comeback for the Engineers as an ace from Luo tied the match at 23 and Gustafson gave the Engineers the lead with a kill. The Pride regained the lead at 25-24, but a kill from Johnson tied the match for the final time as MIT got a kill from Gustafson and an ace from Oliveira to win the set 27-25 and complete the four-set upset.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Springfield is the second top-10 the Engineers have defeated in a little over a week as MIT defeated then-No. 7 NYU on April 1.
- Gustafson led the way with 19 kills followed by Oliveira with 11. Oliveira also posted a team-high 10 digs in the match and Gustafson finished with nine.
- Luo finished with 40 assists in the match along with three kills. Li finished with two kills and one ace.
UP NEXT:
- It's playoff time for the Engineers as the team will next play Elmira in the UVC Quarterfinals which will be held at top-seed Vassar. MIT earned the fourth seed and will take on fifth-seeded Elmira on Friday, April 14 at 5 p.m.
STAY CONNECTED:
- For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on
Twitter,
Facebook,
Instagram, and
YouTube.
