Riverside, Calif. – January 15, 2011 – The Springfield College men’s volleyball team dropped a three-set match to California Baptist on Saturday afternoon by the game scores of 25-21, 27-25, 25-19. It was the second time in the past two days that the Lancers bested the Pride.The Pride drop to 1-2 on the 2011 campaign with the loss, while CBU improved to 4-3.
Cal Palumbo paced the Pride with eight kills and a pair of blocks, while Mike Pelletier added five kills and four digs. Mike Becker delivered 23 assists, while both Nick Ferry and Tommy Crow posted five digs each.
Filip Tomicic made his first start of the season and recorded 24 assists. Sebastian Steigmeier led the way offensively with 13 kills, and Aaron McCalmont also had an effective offensive afternoon, getting five kills on six attempts with no errors.
After dropping the opening set, the Pride appeared poised to even the match at a set apiece after a Pelletier kill gave the visitors a 24-21 advantage. However, Steigmeier put the Lancers on his back en route to a 29-27 second-set victory. McCalmont and Steigmeier ripped back-to-back kills to pull the Lancers to within one, and after a Pride timeout, Steigmeier ripped an ace down the left side of the court to even the score at 24-24. Steigmeier followed up a kill as the Lancers seized the momentum, eventually taking the frame.
The Lancers had 14 players touch the court in the match and got kills from 10 of them. CBU hit .271 on the match and Springfield hit .183. As a team CBU recorded 11.5 total blocks, with Mike MacNeill led the way with three solo blocks.
With seven national championships to his credit, Charlie Sullivan will enter his 15th season as head coach of the men's volleyball team in 2013. In 14 previous years at the helm, Sullivan owns an overall record of 224-155 for a .591 winning percentage. Read more.
