Springfield, MA - After a come from behind win over Wentworth, the Southern Virginia University men's volleyball team wrapped up their northeast trip with three matches over two days. 

On Friday night, the Knights defeated Nichols in straight sets. The next afternoon, they suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of No. 3 Springfield, before rebounding against St. Joseph's, 3-0.

Match One

The Knights didn't miss a beat during their second match of the week against Nichols. Jayton Hall had opportunities on the attack early and often, finishing the opening set with four kills and helping Southern Virginia to a 1-0 lead.

Strong defense led the Knights to a win in two, highlighted by Christian Sheaffer's two blocks in the opening moments. Jason Wang was also coming into his own, playing extremely well on both sides of the play.

Wang combined with Sheaffer to put the finishing touches on the third and final set. They registered four of the last five kills to help claim the third by a score of 25-20. Sheaffer's 16 kills and .519 hitting percentage led the attack while Justin Madsen anchored the defense with 9 digs.

Match Two

In perhaps their greatest challenge this regular season, Springfield, the third ranked team in the land awaited the Knights on Saturday morning. 

Springfield jumped out to an early lead and was able to maintain it through a back and forth first set. Trailing 24-21, a service error and kill from Christian Sheaffer helped the Knights almost stage a late comeback, but Springfield recorded a kill to take the important 1-0 lead.

The second set followed a similar trend as the Knights were unable to overcome an early deficit, dropping another tight set and finding themselves in a 2-0 hole. It was now up to the Knights to regroup for a do or die third frame.

Despite being on the brink of a sweep for the first time in nearly two full seasons, Southern Virginia seemed plenty comfortable. Gehrig Tolman set Christian Sheaffer at will en route to a 25-15 win to stay alive. Kristo also looked dangerous, finishing with three kills and a block in the set.

Unfortunately for the Knights, they weren't able to replicate the effort during the fourth set, falling by another narrow margin for just their second loss in the last 57 matches. In the loss, Christian Sheaffer established a new career high of 26 kills while Gehrig Tolman became just the third in program history to record 50 assists in a match.

Match Three

To round out a busy weekend, St. Joseph's of Long Island was the last obstacle in the Knights' way. The typical Southern Virginia starters took care of business during a 25-16 victory in the first before handing the reins over to their teammates to finish the job.

Jason Wang had a dynamite start to the second, recording three of the team's first four kills. KImo Hughey was also picking his spots well with a couple of kills. After dismantling their opponents in the second set, Curtis Stone was sure to lead his team to another sweep.

Stone recorded four kills and multiple blocks to lead the production in the third. Jett Hall and Isaac Carrillo combined for the last two points to put the finishing touches on the Knights 26th win of the season.

Up Next

Southern Virginia will close out the regular season next week with a trio of matches. Next, they'll face Lynchburg in the first of two matches at the Roanoke Invitational on Wednesday, April 2nd at 6:00 PM.

For the most up-to-date information and details on the team, visit knightathletics.com and follow @knightmvolleyball on Instagram.