Albany, NY – The Sage Colleges' men's volleyball team hosted the Gothic Knights of New Jersey City University on Wednesday evening in a Skyline Conference match. Prior to the match, Sage recognized its 2013 seniors, Kyle Ray (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads), Spencer Hilland (Slingerlands, NY/Bethlehem Central), and Ryan Kramer (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central).
The Gators tallied a 3-1 win, (25-22, 26-28, 37-35, 25-17) and improve to 27-6 overall and 12-2 in the Skyline Conference. The loss puts NJCU at 19-15 overall and 8-6 in the league. Sage has garnered the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Skyline Conference Tournament, which will be held at Kean University (Union, NJ) on April 13. NJCU earned the No. 4 seed and opens tournament play facing top seeded Kean on April 13 at 1 p.m., while second seeded Sage will face No. 3 seeded Ramapo at 3:30 p.m. and the two semifinal winners will meet at 7 p.m. on April 13 for the league's championship crown and automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.
With the victory on Wednesday evening, the Gators are now 27-6 overall and 12-2 in the conference and continue to rewrite the young program's record book, they have bettered the school mark for most conference wins in a season which had been 9, a feat they hit last year, while charting new waters with the team's record 27th win of the season, all under Coach Sandy Augstein-Collins.
For the Gators, sophomore outside Andy Fishman (Cornwallville, NY/ Cairo-Durham) added a personal-best 20 kills with six digs and had a .222 hitting percentage, while making just one reception error in 22 attempts for a .955 reception percentage. He added four aces and continues to lead the Gators with his active season ace mark that has grown to 82. Junior outside Dylan Krowicki (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) and Hilland each had 13 kills, while Hilland had a .417 attack percentage on the evening with a team-best 14 digs and five block assists. Krowicki contributed to the victory with his four digs and had four block assists. Kramer chipped in with 10 kills and six digs to help the Gators as they combined for a .265 attack percentage in the action, while holding NJCU to a .163 attack percentage on the night.
Setter Kyle Ray connected for 56 setting assists in the match, bringing his season total to 1,131. Ray, who holds both the season and career setting assists marks at Sage 2,737, was recognized as the program's first four-year letterwinner in the pre-match ceremonies.
Sage's junior Connor Thompson (Delmar, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) posted nine kills with two digs am solo block and five block assists, elevating his team-leading season total to 95.
NJCU's sophomore Besmir Arslani (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) also had a 20-kill night for the Gothic Knights, while adding an ace, nine digs, a solo block and six block assists. He made just one reception error in 22 attempts and had a .957 reception percentage in the match. Senior outside hitter Justin Beaumont (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) racked up 17 kills with a .256 hitting percentage and had five digs and 28 setting assists.
Senior Gary Preston, Jr. (North East, MD/Rising Sun) racked up 17 setting assists with three digs for NJCU.
