NEW YORK – Sophomore captains Ryan Guyton (Lockport, NY/Lockport) and Bailey Cecchi (Agawam, MA/Agawam) were named to the 2016 Skyline Conference Men's Volleyball All-Conference team while head coach Bob Verhayden was named the Coach of the Year.
Guyton was named to the Skyline First-Team after a 363 kill season. The sophomore had a .292 hitting percentage and averaged 3.27 kills per set. Guyton set the Sage career service aces record with 118 and counting. On the defense, the outside hitter averaged 1.08 digs per set and .37 blocks per set. Guyton led the Gators in points per set with 4.2. The captain was named to the Skyline Player of the Week twice this season.
Cecchi picked up Skyline Second-Team honors after averaging 2.95 kills per set. The sophomore recorded a .188 hitting percentage and averaged .43 service aces per set. On defense, Cecchi averaged 1.43 digs per set and .26 blocks per set. The outside hitter averaged the second highest points per set for the Gators with 3.5.
Both Guyton and Cecchi passed the 500 career kill mark, and they're sitting at no. four and no. five in career points.
Verhayden was named the Skyline Coach of the Year in his first year leading the Gators. He was the assistant for Sage the pervious years prior to taking over the program. A former women's head volleyball coach at Fulton-Montgomery Community College for three seasons, he has an extensive background within the sport of volleyball. He concurrently serves as the Girls' Varsity Volleyball Coach at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady, New York, a position he has held since 2009. His 2015 squad went 23-4 overall, were the WAC South champions and qualified for the Class B sectionals as the fourth seeded team, and advanced to the semifinal match, losing to number one seeded Hudson Falls HS. He collected his 100th varsity victory on this past fall and is sending three seniors on to play volleyball in college in the fall of 2016.
The 2016 Gator squad had the best season for Sage since finishing runner-up to Kean in the 2013 finals.