ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. –  Playing for the first time in almost 700 days, Russell Sage College opened the season by dropping a pair of matches at the Bard tri-match.

The Gators (0-2), featuring eight newcomers on the 10-player roster, fell to the hosts 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-22) and New Jersey City 3-0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-11).

Senior middle hitter Mikhail Hailu (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) totaled nine kills on .227 hitting on the day. He topped the Gators in the category in both matches, putting down four kills vs. Bard (1-0), and five against NJCU (1-0).

Senior opposite Deshawn Fleary (Newark, NJ/Immaculate Conception Montclair) (above) added eight kills, while setter Ryan Jennings (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick Twp.), a graduate student, contributed 18 assists and three aces in the pair of setbacks.

Freshman opposite Ty McGlynn topped Bard (1-0) with 11 kills. The Raptors received 17 assists and four aces from senior setter Josh Kim.

NJCU (1-0) hit .519 in its sweep of the Gators.

Looking ahead, RSC plays next on Wednesday at SUNY Poly.  First serve is slated for 7:00 pm.

Notes: The Gators went 687 days without playing due to the COVID-19…RSC is making its debut as an associate member of the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) this season…League coaches picked the Gators to finish sixth in the NECC…The spring also marks the maiden voyage with Reid Hartl at the helm of the program…He took over as head coach in October 2021…Fleary and Jennings are the only two players that returned from the 2020 RSC team…Jennings began the campaign second in program records with 1,696 career assists…Kyle Ray '13 has the top spot with 2,910 career assists.

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