Gators sweep opponents on Saturday in NJ!

Gators sweep opponents on Saturday in NJ!

Jersey City, NJ— The Sage College men's volleyball team travelled to New Jersey to face both Neumann University and New Jersey City University on Saturday in a pair of non-conference matches. The Gators went 2-0 in Saturday, beating both opponents, 3-0. Against Neuman, Sage win 25-12, 25-10, 25-14. They closed the season besting the Gothic Knights, 25-19, 25-16, 25-17 and cap the year with a record of 11-16 under rookie head coach Rachel Martin.

Match #1

Sage combined for 18 aces in the match which ranks tied for third all-time in Sage single-match records. Leading the way, Sage's senior co-captain Zackery Karl (West Monroe, NY/Central Square) led the Gators with his eight aces, marking his second 8 ace effort this year. Karl also had 10 kills with seven digs and 18.0 points in the match.

Junior outside hitter Jarod Martel (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) contributed eight kills and a .583 attack percentage to go with his 8.5 points. Junior Scott Sanders (Los Angeles, CA/Taft) picked up six kills with two aces, and 8.5 points in the contest.

Sophomore co-captain Mike Basile (Feeding Hills, MA/Agawam) had nine kills with 13 digs with a pair of aces and 11.0 points. Junior outside hitter Shane Wenz (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) added three kills with four digs and an ace. Sophomore setter Ryan Jennings (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick Township) racked up 25 setting assists, with two aces, four digs and one kill.

Match # 2

Wenz led the Gators against NJCU with his eight kills and a .333 attack percentage. He also added 12.0 points with an ace, a dig and three solo blocks. Karl had eight kills with two digs and a .929 receiving percentage with only one error in his 13 attempts. Basile racked up seven kills and five digs, while Sanders had two kills, three aces, two digs and three total blocks on two solo blocks and a block assist. Jennings added 25 setting assist with an ace, a kill and four digs to lead the Gators to their third straight win to close the season.

Saturday's matches were the final time Karl appeared in a Gator uniform and he certainly left his mark on the Sage men's volleyball program. During his time at Sage, he played in 1115 career matches, tied for fourth all-time, having also played in 330 sets (No. 6). He added 442 career kills (No. 6), 84 aces (No. 5), 134 total blocks (No. 6), and 607.5 points (No. 6).

Wenz, Sanders, and Jennings are also climbing the program's career record book as well after their accomplishments on the 2019 season. Jennings is currently third with 1,118 career setting assists in just two seasons.

Wenz is third with his 173 career total blocks, while also ranking ninth now with his 400 career kills and ranks seventh with his 550.5 career points. Sanders is now 10th on the career kill list with 365 kills, while also ranking ninth with his 112 career total blocks.