Albany, NY – The Sage Colleges' men's volleyball team opened the 2014 season and the career of rookie head coach Jimmy Pompeo on Wednesday night as the Gators hosted SUNY-IT. The Wildcats collected a 3-0 win to improve to 4-1 overall, while Sage drops to 0-1 on the young season.
SUNY-IT won the first set 25-17 and then won set two, 25-18. In a tough-fought third set, SUNY-IT won 25-22.
Leading the way for the Gators was senior captain Dylan Krowicki (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) with his 13 kills, three digs and an ace. He was also perfect in 11 receptions for the match. Senior Connor Thompson (Delmar, NY/CBA) added six kills with two block assists, while senior libero Cory Gransbury (Round Top, NY/Cairo-Durham) added seven digs for the Gators. Senior setter Matthew DeGeyter (Hudson, NY/Hawthorne Valley) added 25 setting assists with seven digs and a kill.
SUNY-IT's sophomore outside Evan Smith (Saugerties, NY/Saugerties) added 10 kills for the Wildcats, while connecting for six digs and was perfect in 10 receptions with no errors. Rookie outside hitter Matthew Cardot (Rush-Henrietta, NY/Sperry) added six kills and seven digs, while junior setter Jeff Knapp (Hamlin, NY/Brockport) added 25 setting assists with two digs.
The Gators will be back in action on February 5 travelling to Bard College for a 7 p.m. non-conference match, while SUNY-IT will host Southern Vermont and Keuka College on February 1 in matches at 1 and 5 p.m., respectively.