Albany, NY— The Sage College men's volleyball team hosted the Hawks of SUNY-New Paltz on Wednesday night in a United Volleyball Conference match. Ranked No. 7 in the latest AVCA Division III poll, New Paltz posted the 3-0 win over Sage, 25-17, 25-13, 25-17 and improves to 14-4 overall and 5-0 in the UVC. Sage drops to 6-11 overall and 1-5 in the UVC.
Junior outside hitter Aaron Caark (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem) had a big night for the Hawks as he racked up 22.0 points with a .895 attack percentage to go with his 17 kills, five aces, and nine digs. Junior libero Robert Nolan (Holbrook, NY/Sachem North) added five digs with no errors on 13 reception attempts for New Paltz.
Sage's junior middle hitter Scott Sanders (Los Angeles, CA/Taft) collected four kills with a .250 attack percentage, while senior co-captain Zackery Karl (West Monroe, NY/Central Square) added three kills with two digs for Sage. Junior outside hitter Jarod Martel (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) also finished with three kills and a dig for the Gators.
Sage junior outside hitter Shane Wenz (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) added three digs with two kills and a solo block with an ace. Rookie opposite Deshawn Fleary (Newark, NJ/Immaculate Conception Montclair) added two aces with a kill and a dig in the action.
Gator co-captain Mike Basile (Feeding Hills, MA/Agawam) had a team-best seven digs with a kill and had just two errors on 11 reception attempts for a .846 receiving percentage. Sophomore setter Ryan Jennings (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick Township) racked up 12 setting assists with a kill for the Gators.
On the 2019 season, Sanders leads Sage with his 145.5 points with 117 kills and 27 total blocks. Karl has a team-best 25 aces on the season, while standing at the No. 6 spot on the career list with his 67 aces. Wenz is currently 10th in career kills with 335 and is now third all-time with his 155 career total blocks. Wenz is currently 10th in career points with 467.5 points, while Karl has 515.5 career points and is now 8th on the Gator career list, while his 375 career kills is also 8th.
Sage is back in action on Friday, March 8 at Nazareth College for a 6 p.m. UVC match, while SUNY-New Paltz travels to Elms College for a 7 p.m. non-conference match on Friday.