Albany, NY–Sage's men's volleyball team hosted the Golden Flyers of Nazareth College in a United Volleyball Conference match on Friday evening. Nazareth squeaked out a 3-0 win over Sage (25-14, 25-23, 25-23) and is now 8-10 overall and 1-2 in the UVC. The loss puts Sage at 4-13 overall and 0-4 in the UVC.
Leading the way for Sage was senior middle hitter Shane Wenz (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) as he had 13t kills with a .414 attack percentage. He added five digs with three block assists and 14.5 points.
Senior captain Jarod Martel (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) added seven with two digs for the Gators. Junior setter Ryan Jennings (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick Township) added 20 setting assists with three digs and a block assist with three kills.
Sophomore opposite Deshawn Fleary (Newark, NJ/Immaculate Conception Montclair) had four digs for Sage with a solo block. Junior libero Dan Mackey (Westerlo, NY/Greenville Central) added six digs for Sage with a kill.
Nazareth's junior outside hitter Antonio Sargent (Chesapeake, VA) tallied 13 kills with three digs and 13.0 points, while sophomore setter Jason Proud (Oswego, NY/Oswego) had six aces with six digs and two kills and 37 setting assists. Nazareth combined for a .299 attack percentage in the contest with 12 aces, while holding Sage to a .218 attack percentage.
Senior middle Sean Dillon (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) added 11.5 points after adding eight kills with three aces, two digs and a block assist. Senior middle back Joe Crosby (Walworth, NY/McQuaid Jesuit) added nine kills with a .467 attack percentage, while adding two aces and 11.0 points for the Golden Flyers.
Sage's 2020 team members are continuing their climb in the program's career record book. Wenz stands fifth in career kills with 603 and is also fifth in points with 779.5. He is third in solo blocks (52), third in block assists (149) and third in total blocks (201), while also now ranking 10th with his 318 digs. Jennings is second with his 1,528 career setting assists. Senior Scott Sanders (Los Angeles, CA/Taft) is now seventh in career kills with 461 kills, while also stand fourth in block assists with 112. He is snow tied for fifth with 145 career total blocks, while ranking eighth in career points with 593.0 points.
Sage will be in action on February 29 hosting a tri-match with MIT and Rivier. Sage will open the day taking on UVC foe MIT at noon and Rivier at 4 p.m. on Saturday.