FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Courtesy of Springfield Athletics Communications
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - April 16, 2018 - The Springfield College men's volleyball team was announced as the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship, which will begin this upcoming weekend. The Pride will square off against the winner of a first-round game between Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) champion Rivier University and Lancaster Bible. Springfield will serve as a a host site for an opening weekend pod, as Rivier and Lancaster Bible will compete in Blake Arena on Friday, April 20 at 6 pm.
The Pride, who has been the top-ranked program in the country for the past 28 weeks of the AVCA Division III National Coaches Poll, earned one of two at-large berths into the field of 12 teams. Springfield enters the championship weekend with a 28-2 record, including a 26-0 record against Division III opponents.
The Pride will await the winner for a Saturday night tilt at 6 pm on April 21, with the winner earning a spot in the national semifinals. The national semifinals will take place at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Ticket prices for the weekend are $6 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and students, and $3 for children.
On the same side of the bracket as Springfield, 4th-seeded Vassar will face either Kean or St. Joseph's (L.I.). In the bottom half of the bracket, 3rd-seeded Stevens will play the winner of Stevenson and Elms, while 2nd-seeded Carthage will face the winner of Hunter and Dominican. The championship continues with two semifinal matches on Friday, April 27 and the championship match on Saturday, April 28 in Wisconsin.
The Pride faced Rivier twice earlier this season, winning by a 3-0 decision in New Hampshire on January 31 before besting the Raiders in Blake Arena in three sets on February 24. Springfield and Lancaster Bible have never played each other.
Springfield has played in the last eight Division III national championship matches and are the defending NCAA Division III National Champions. The Pride won three-straight NCAA Division III National Championships after sweeping Carthage in 2012, Nazareth in 2013, and Juniata in 2014 before securing the 2017 title over New Paltz. Springfield has been the No. 1 seed in the tournament on four other occasions (2012, 2013, 2014, and 2017), and as a program, has won a total of 10 Division III National Championships, including six in the past 10 seasons.