Springfield, MA– The Sage Colleges' men's volleyball team opened competition on Friday evening at the Springfield College Invitational. The Gators faced the host Pride of Springfield College in the first match and took the No. 2 team in Division III to four sets, but fell, 3-1 (21-25, 25-11, 25-15, 28-26). In the second match of the night, the Gators triumphed, 3-2 over Southern Vermont College (25-23, 30-28, 22-25, 22-25, 15-12).

The Gators stand at 20-6 on the season and will face Lesley University and Division I Rutgers University-Newark on Saturday in matches at 10 a.m. and noon.

Against Springfield, the Gators took the first set 25-21 and were paced by the play of junior Dylan Krowicki (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) as he had 12 kills with nine digs. He made just two reception errors in 38 attempts for a .950 reception percentage in the action.  Sage's sophomore outside Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, NY/ Cairo-Durham) added 10 kills with six digs, while senior middle hitter Spencer Hilland (Slingerlands, NY/Bethlehem Central) added eight kills with six digs. Senior setter Kyle Ray (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) added 32 setting assists with three digs.

Junior middle hitter Connor Thompson (Delmar, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) had six kills as well in the match.

Against SVC, Sage posted the win in five sets marking the team's second win over the Mountaineers this season after collecting a 3-0 win back on February 13.

Ray erupted for 61 setting assists with 12 digs. Fishman had 23 kills, which ranks No. 3 all-time in five-set matches, while Krowicki picked up another double-double as he had 16 kills with 12 digs.  Hilland also had a double-double with 19 kills and 13 digs. He added seven blocks as well in the action, while Thompson added 12 kills.