HAMBURG, N.Y. –  Russell Sage College dropped a pair of matches on Saturday afternoon at the Hilbert tri-match.

The Gators began the afternoon by falling 3-0 to Mount Aloysius (25-17, 25-23, 25-16).

Junior opposite Wylkins Occelin (Brooklyn, NY/John Dewey) topped the Gators with six kills in the opener. Senior opposite Elijah Tortorici (Clifton Park, NY/Mohonasen) added five kills, while setter Ryan Jennings (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick Township), a graduate student, registered 17 assists and four aces.

Sophomore outsider hitter Matthew Franz paced the Mounties (4-7), which hit .357 as a team, with 10 kills. 

The afternoon concluded with the host Hawks defeating RSC 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 27-25).

Tortorici tallied a team-high seven kills to go along with three aces, with Occelin and Middle hitter Andrew Samson (Queens, NY/Pathways), a graduate student, finishing off five rallies apiece. Jennings passed out 19 assists, while sophomore setter/outside hitter Jack McWilliam (Fishkill, NY/Arlington) elevated 11 Hilbert attacks.

The Hawks (6-10) received multiple kills from 10 players, including sophomore setter Ryan Levcik, who recorded four kills on .400 hitting, 21 assists, and six digs.

RSC (3-14) is back in action on Saturday facing Thiel and Wells. 

Notes: The Gators are in their second spring with Reid Hartl at the helm…He guided RSC to a spot in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship Tournament in his debut campaign…Seven players returned from the squad…The Gators were picked to finish seventh in the conference by the member coaches…Setter Ryan Jennings (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick Township), a graduate student, and middle hitter Andrew Samson (Queens, NY/Pathways), both graduate students, were voted co-captains…Jennings began the season with 2,157 career assists, second-most by a Gator…Kyle Ray '13 holds the program record with 2,910 career assists…Four newcomers, two from New York, one from Colorado, and another from Texas, joined the program in 2023.

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