Poughkeepsie, NY – The Sage Colleges' men's volleyball team picked up one of the program's biggest wins on Wednesday night as the Gators knocked off the No. 10 ranked team in Division III, the Brewers of Vassar College. Sage was a 3-2 winner over Vassar (13-25, 25-13, 25-20, 16-25, 19-17) to improve to 23-6, while the loss puts Vassar at 19-11. The hard fought battle saw 26 ties and 13 lead changes before Sage emerged in the final set as the victor.
Leading the way for the Gators in the action was junior outside Dylan Krowicki (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) and senior middle hitter Spencer Hilland (Slingerlands, NY/Bethlehem Central) as the pair had double-doubles to pace Sage to the win. Krowicki racked up a double-double with his 14 kills and 14 digs. He is among the nationally ranked performers in Division III as he ranks in aces per set and hitting percentage. Krowicki is No. 45 in aces per set (0.36). On the 2013 season, he has a .273 attack percentage in 104 sets played this season. He is also averaging 2.71 kills per set with 268 on the season. He leads the team with his 201 digs and has 37 aces with 57 total blocks. He has racked up his 600th career kill on Wednesday.
Hilland added 14 digs with 11 kills on the night with an ace and three total blocks. Hilland ranks No. 36 in blocks per set (0.81) and No. 50 in digs per set (2.07). On the season, he has 233 kills with a 0.292 attack percentage. He has added 28 aces with 76 total blocks and 200 digs. He sports an impressive career resume that now has 790 career kills (No. 1) with 492 digs (No. 2), while adding 224 total blocks (No. 1) at Sage.
Sophomore outside Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, NY/Cairo-Durham) led all players on Wednesday evening with his match-high 18 kills and added six digs with three block assists. He is the national ace leader, marking the fifth week he has stood atop the NCAA Division III rankings. He now has 72 aces and 298 kills to lead Sage. He has a .273 hitting percentage as well in 88 sets played. He also has 144 digs with 26 total blocks. He ranks No. 1 with his 0.87 aces per set average, while also ranking No. 6 in points per set average (4.44), while standing No. 16 in kills per set (3.37).
Junior Connor Thompson (Delmar, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) compiled six block assists with a solo block and seven kills for Sage. He stands at No. 16 in Division III in blocks per set this season (0.97) and has a team-best 80 total blocks this season with 136 kills and 23 digs in 81 sets played. He also ranks No. 29 in hitting percentage as well with a .318 average. He has elevated his career resume to include 334 kills with 220 total blocks in 259 sets played.
Sage's senior setter Kyle Ray (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) handed out 45 setting assists in the match with six digs. The Skyline Conference Co-Player of the Week, Ray now has 2,527 setting assists. He also boasts 338 career kills with 642 digs. The selection as the league's co-player was his second selection of the season. Overall on the year, he has a personal-best and Sage single-season 966 setting assists. He now has 2,572 career setting assists with his 338 kills and 648 digs. He is closing in on achieving his 1,000 setting assist of the season, a feat he could achieve this weekend. Ray ranks No. 16 nationally with his 9.4 setting assists per set average.
Junior Cory Gransbury (Round Top, NY/Cairo-Durham) added 12 digs, while senior middle hitter Ryan Kramer (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) contributed seven kills with four digs and five block assists.
Sage is back in action on April 4 at the College of Mt. St. Vincent for a 7 p.m. Skyline Conference match. The busy week wraps with the Gators facing Purchase College and Ramapo College on Saturday in a Skyline quad match to be held at Purchase on April 6 with contests at 10 a.m. and noon.
