Union, NJ – The Sage Colleges' men's volleyball team competed in the Skyline Conference Championship on Saturday. The Gators advanced to the finals with a 3-1 win over #3 seeded Ramapo in the semifinals (20-25,25-21,25-21,25-23) and advanced to the finals to face the league's defending champions, Kean University in the finals. In the finals, Kean jumped out to a 2-0 lead, taking the 26-24, 28-26. Sage took the third set, 25-22, but the Cougars rallied back and took the fourth set, 25-12 to win the match and the league's championship crown and the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship for the second straight year. Kean improves to 25-7, while riding a 13-match win streak and will appear in the NCAA's and will find out their fate with the tournament field announcement on Sunday. The Gators stand at 28-7 on the year and must await news of a possible selection to the 2013 ECAC Division III North Tournament, which will be announced on Monday.
For Sage's men's volleyball squad, which is four years young, the appearance in the Skyline Conference Championship is a program first. The Gators have garnered four straight appearances in the Skyline Tournament every season, but had never appeared in the finals or earned the No. 2 seed prior to this season.
On the 2013 season, Sage is 28-7 overall has continued to rewrite the young program's record book with every time they have stepped on the court under interim head coach Sandy Augstein-Collins.
In the semifinals against Ramapo, sophomore outside Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, NY/ Cairo-Durham) racked up 13 kills with 14 digs and had one ace. Junior outside Dylan Krowicki (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) connected on a double-double as well as he has 11 kills and 11 digs with a pair of block assists.
Sage's junior Connor Thompson (Delmar, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) posted nine kills with five total blocks in the match. Senior Spencer Hilland (Slingerlands, NY/Bethlehem Central) had seven kills with a team-high 15 kills and had three total blocks, while senior Ryan Kramer (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) added seven kills with three total blocks as the Gators had 60 digs in the action. Senior setter Kyle Ray (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) had 40 setting assists with eight digs.
In the finals, Fishman tallied 15 kills with six digs and had a pair of aces. He leads the team with his 375 kills and a school record 85 aces on the campaign. Krowicki chipped in with 11 kills and had nine digs, while Hilland also had 10 kills in the action with six digs and six total blocks. Kramer contributed eight kills for Sage, while Thompson finished with seven kills.
Ray tallied 42 setting assists, elevating his season total to a school record 1,213 setting assists on the year. Ray, who is the career setting assist leader at Sage also has 2,819. Hilland who holds Sage's career kills records brings his total to 842, while also owning the Gators' total blocks mark at 249 and holds the program's all-time career points record (1,059).
