2/21/26
NEW YORK, N.Y. — When top ranked teams in the country play five sets on a Saturday afternoon, somebody has to blink first. On February 21 inside the John A. Paulson Center, it was NYU who blinked, and Springfield College who walked out of the building undefeated at D3, riding a ten-match winning streak and an answer to a question nobody had fully asked yet: what happens when AJ Seveland gets hot?
The No. 1 Pride survived No. 6 NYU 3-2 (23-25, 31-29, 22-25, 25-18, 16-14) in a match that had everything: a 31-29 second set that felt like its own separate event, a third set where both teams hit above .450 and still could not separate themselves, and a fifth set that ended on a red card with Springfield clinging to a one-point lead. College volleyball does not get much better than this.
The Seveland Factor
Before getting into the chaos, it is worth stopping to properly acknowledge what AJ Seveland did on Saturday, because .607 is not a hitting percentage. It is near perfection. Seveland finished with 17 kills on 28 errorless swings, hitting at that rate in a five-set match against a top-ten opponent. For context, teams hit .607 in a single set on good days. Seveland did it across an entire match while the gym was on fire.
In a match as tight as this one, where every sequence mattered and momentum shifted by the rally, having a player the defense simply could not solve was the difference between Springfield going home with a W. Seveland was that player.
How It Unfolded
Springfield held a 21-17 first-set lead and looked to be in control before four Pride errors opened the door for a 7-1 NYU run. The Violets took the set 25-23, and the John A. Paulson Center had a pulse.
The second set was its own feature film. NYU led 4-0 before Springfield rattled off a quick run to tie at six, and from there neither team could pull more than two points clear. Trailing 18-16, Nathan Goh ignited a 5-1 run that gave the Pride a 21-19 lead. The set reached 29-29 before back-to-back kills from Sam Levinson and Dylan Mulvaney finally closed it out for Springfield, 31-29. As a team, the Pride hit .533 in that set on 19 kills in 30 swings. Sets do not get much cleaner than that.
The third set saw both offenses post numbers that would embarrass most teams on their best nights. Springfield hit .545. NYU hit .462. The Violets won anyway, 25-22, after erasing a 8-2 deficit and closing on four straight points to take a 2-1 match lead. Emerson Evans and Charlie Clifford were the engines for NYU all afternoon, finishing with 20 kills apiece.
Springfield regrouped in the fourth with a vengeance. A kill from Levinson started an 11-3 run that pushed the Pride to 19-12, and though NYU pulled within four at 21-17, Springfield closed the set on four of the final five points to force a fifth, 25-18. An ace by Seveland punctuated it.
In the fifth, NYU held a 4-2 lead before solo blocks from Richard Eber Jr. and Levinson, plus a Durivage kill, tied it at five. Springfield went up 9-7 before the two sides traded points deep into the set. NYU reached match point at 14-13. Levinson answered to tie it at 14. Then Goh ripped the ball off the NYU block to give Springfield a 15-14 lead, and a red card assessed against NYU handed the Pride the 16th point and the match.
By the Numbers
Carter Durivage led Springfield with 18 kills to go with seven digs, three blocks and two aces. Goh added 14 kills and hit .367. Mulvaney finished with 53 assists, ten digs and three kills. As a team, the Pride posted 64 kills and hit .307, both season highs on the 2026 slate.
For NYU (10-3), Evans and Clifford each finished with 20 kills in a losing effort. Devyn Nguyen ran the offense with 47 assists.
Up Next
Springfield returns home to Blake Arena to host Rutgers on Wednesday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. After a five-set war on the road, a home match probably sounds very appealing right now, even against the red-hot Scarlet Raiders..