Wildcats top Sage in home opener

Wildcats top Sage in home opener

Albany, NY- Sage's men's volleyball team hosted the Wildcats of SUNY-Polytechnic on Wednesday in the home opener for the Gators. SUNY-Polytechnic collected the 3-0 win (25-23, 25-21, 25-17) to improve to 1-4, while Sage drops to 0-3 on the year.

For the night, senior outside hitter Bailey Cecchi (Agawam, MA/Agawam) added 16.5 points with 14 kills and a .233 attack percentage. He added six digs with three block assists for the Gators. Senior outside Ryan Guyton (Lockport, NY/Lockport) added three kills with two digs, while junior opposite Zackery Karl (West Monroe, NY/central Square) had three kills and a block assist. 

Sophomore Scott Sanders (Los Angeles, CA/Taft) added three kills with a .400 attack percentage in the match and a block assist. Sophomore middle hitter Shane Wenz (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) added three kills with an ace, a solo block and a block assist. Rookie setter Ryan Jennings (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick Township) added 16 setting assists with five digs, while senior defensive specialist Casey Fitzpatrick (Haverhill, MA/Haverhill) added 10 digs in the contest.

SUNY-Polytechnic was led by the play of junior outside Max Szuba (Irondequoit, NY/Irondequoit) who has 11 points on nine kills with two aces and eight digs.  Junior outside Ryan Gloff (Brockport, NY/Brockport) added nine points with eight kills and a .294 attack percentage with four digs and a solo block.

Senior setter Zach Goggin (Feeding Hills, MA/Agawam) connected for 26 setting assists with five digs for the Wildcats, while sophomore middle Garrett Hassard (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) added six kills with a blistering .857 attack percentage and added a solo block with a dig in the contest.

After Tuesday's play, Cecchi has added 892 career kills, which ranks second all-time at Sage, while Guyton is right behind him in third place with 875 kills. Guyton is No. 2 in career points with 1,114.0, while Cecchi has 1,047.5 points and ranks fourth at Sage. Fitzpatrick is making his run at the career dig mark as he stands third with 646, just behind the mark currently held by Kyle Ray (693, 2010-2013).

Sage is back on action on January 27 travelling to Massachusetts to take on Mt. Ida College and Eastern Nazarene College in a tri-match at Mt. Ida. Sage's matches are at Noon and 2 p.m. on Saturday.