Albany, NY– The Sage Colleges' men's volleyball team hosted Sarah Lawrence College and the No. 5 ranked Cougars of Kean University on Sunday in a Skyline Conference tri-match. Sage posted a 3-0 win over Sarah Lawrence College (25-7, 25-8, 25-7) in the first match. Despite challenging Kean with some tight points, the Gators fells, 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-13). Sage stands at 9-15 overall, while wrapping Skyline Conference play with a 6-8 mark. Sarah Lawrence drops to 0-19 and 0-14 in the league.
Prior to the start of the day, Sage honored seniors Juan Polanco (Bronx, NY/Urban Assembly Academy) and Thaddeus Sipe (Loudonville, NY/Hawthorne Valley) in conjunction with Senior Day!
Against SLC, Polanco had a team-best seven kills with one dig and four block assists. Sipe added two kills with an ace and three digs.
Freshman setter Tyler Bastos (Ludlow, MA/Ludlow) picked up six kills with a .600 attack percentage,, while handing out 21 setting assists and had five total blocks with two aces. Rookie Casey Fitzpatrick (Haverhill, MA/Haverhill) added 10 digs and was perfect with no errors in six reception attempts. Freshman Ryan Guyton (Lockport, NY/Lockport) added five kills with two digs and an ace, while sophomore Chris MacArthur (Hillsdale, NY/Taconic Hills) had five kills with two aces and three digs.
Sage had a combined .442 attack percentage while limiting the Gryphons to a -.246 attack percentage with nine reception errors.
Against the No. 5 ranked team in Division III, the Gators came out strong and held a 3-0 lead to open the match. There were seven ties with the last coming at 11-11 before Kean took the lead.
Four Sage performers finished with four kills each as Bastos, rookie outside hitter Bailey Cecchi (Agawam, MA/Agawam), Polanco, and Guyton all paced the squad. MacArthur added three kills, while Bastos connected for 14 setting assists and four digs. Fitzpatrick led the Gators with his 12 digs, while Sipe added a pair of block assists.
The Gators return to action on April 4 for a tri-match at Vassar College with York College (NY) with matches at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
