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KENOSHA, WI —Springfield (19-10) defeated UC-Santa Cruz (15-7), 3-1, in the championship match of the Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis .with winning set scores of 23-30, 32-30, 30-26 and 30-22.
In the first set, Springfield took a 14-8 lead before UC-Santa Cruz took off on a 9-0 run to take a 17-14 lead. The Banana Slugs extended their lead to 21-16, en route to a seven-point win, 30-23. The second set was close all the way, with neither team leading by more than three points. The set was tied, 30-30, before the Pride won the final two points for a 32-30 decision. The third set was more of the same, with neither team able to pull away. Springfield finally took a 21-16 lead. UC-Santa Cruz cut the margin to two points, 24-22, but the Pride went on to win by four, 30-26.
In the fourth and final set, Springfield opened up a 10-5 lead and extended that to 25-13. UC-Santa Cruz got as close as seven points, 29-22, before the Pride put the set away at 30-22. Springfield's Alberto Bravo had a tournament-high 24 kills and hit .250 (24-9-60), while A.J. Nally had 20 kills with a .308 attack percentage (20-8-39).
Austin Einhorn led the Banana Slugs with 13 kills and hit .478 (13-2-23).
Springfield's Alberto Bravo was named the tournament MVP. Teammates Eric Shoemaker and A.J. Nally were also named to the all-tournament team, along with Sal La Cavera III and Austin Einhorn from UC-Santa Cruz, Randy Hansen from Carthage and Hans Schroder from Nazareth.
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