SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - The NCAA’S Men Volleyball Championships take place Thursday at Springfield College’s Blake Arena and the Pride’s volleyball team are looking to make it back to the national championship in back-to-back seasons.

The Pride will first have to take on a familiar foe the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen — who they faced in the national semi-finals last year. Western Mass News got to meet with the team ahead of what’s sure to be a raucous evening on Thursday.

Springfield’s Blake Arena will be the site of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship Semifinal and Final. It’s a fitting location for tournament as the game was invented by Springfield College graduate William George Morgan in Holyoke in 1895.

“We have a proud heritage and a great history in the area of sport. Springfield College thrives to be a part of the community as opposed to apart from the community. And I think this is just one more way the economic impact of this event is one way that Springfield College is helping the city of Springfield,” said Craig Poisson the Director of Athletics at Springfield College.

The Pride come into Thursday’s national semifinal as the top seed in the tournament and are led by Charlie Sullivan, who was recently named National Coach of the Year and four-time All-American Setter Dylan Mulvaney.

They both told Western Mass News that they’re not looking to get too far ahead thinking about the championship – but instead focus on the present challenge at hand, “we’re trying to stay in the presence for sure. We don’t want to go too far ahead or too far back. But I think you just take a breath and be good where your feet are and give you your best effort as we’re trying to do,” said coach Charlie Sullivan.

Mulvaney is the leader of this Pride team, and he is confident that his squad’s experience will prepare them for any challenges Thursday’s match will present them, “this year we feel like we have experience and we’re ready for the moment and what’s to come. And we’re not experiencing it for the first time. So, we feel really prepared this time around.”

Thursday’s match starts at 5 p.m. and the national championship will be Saturday at 7 p.m.