Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer

Cecchi Leads Gators Past Southern Vermont

Cecchi Leads Gators Past Southern Vermont

ALBANY – Junior Bailey Cecchi (Agawam, MA/Agawam) posted an unprecedented .909 hitting percentage to lead Sage past Southern Vermont 3-0 (25-12, 25-10. 25-11) Wednesday night.

The outside hitter's 10 kills on 11 total attempts gives the co-captain the best single-match hitting percentage (10-14 attempts) in all of Division III.

Cecchi scored a match-high 11 points followed by Tyler Schnaible (Ballston Lake, NY/Shenendehowa) with nine points on a career-high seven kills and two aces. Schnaible also led the Gators on defense with five digs. Casey Fitzpatrick (Haverhill, MA/Haverhill) recorded a match-high 20 assists while Zachary Karl (West Monroe, NY/Central Square) recorded a career-high five aces which ranks 17th in Division III three-set matches.

On the other side of the net, Te Hayward led the Mountaineers with 5.5 points on five kills and one block. Bryan Bernal recorded 10 assists and an ace.

After starting the first set 3-2 in favor of Sage (7-5), the Gators scored ten straight points led by Cecchi, Schnaible, Chris MacArthur (Ancram, NY/Taconic Hills), and Shane Wenz (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane). Southern Vermont (0-7) snapped the run with a small 3-0 run of their own to cut Sage's lead to 13-5. Both teams swapped points until Sage posted its largest lead on an attack error to go up 20-8. The Gators kept up the offense with a kill by Cecchi and a Schnaible ace before MacArthur score the final point to take the first set 25-12.

In the second set, Sage jumped out to a 13-3 lead on the backs of Cecchi, Karl, Jarod Martel (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) and Austin Laverty (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen). Southern Vermont cut Sage's lead to 13-5 on kills by Marv Figaro and Hayward, but Sage went back up by ten (15-5 score) on an attack error and a Cecchi ace. Sage and Southern Vermont went back-and-forth until Sage went on a small 3-0 run to go up 22-10 on a Karl kill. The Gators took the set on a Schnaible kill (25-10 score) to go up 2-0.

The Gators jumped out to 12-5 lead in the third set. They built their lead to 24-9, their largest lead of the match with points from Fitzpatrick, Martel, Karl and Ryan Guyton (Lockport, NY/Lockport). The Gators scored their final point of the match on a kill from Drew Evans (Red Hook, NY/Pine Plains) to take the final set 25-11.

MacArthur's three kills move him into 7th in career kills. The senior's 345 kills put him past Kyle Ray (2010-13).

The Gators will have the weekend off before returning the play Feb. 23 at Vassar College. The first serve goes up a 7 p.m.

Gator Bites for April 17
April 17, 2017 Gator Bites for April 17
Gator Bites for March 10
March 10, 2017 Gator Bites for March 10
Sage Falls at #6 Vassar
February 23, 2017 Sage Falls at #6 Vassar
Sage Downs Blazers 3-0
February 2, 2017 Sage Downs Blazers 3-0
Kangaroos Tops Sage, 77-74
December 3, 2016 Kangaroos Tops Sage, 77-74
Gator Bites for November 29
November 29, 2016 Gator Bites for November 29
Gators fall short at RPI
November 22, 2016 Gators fall short at RPI
Gator Bites for November 21
November 21, 2016 Gator Bites for November 21
Gators Playoff Bound
October 26, 2016 Gators Playoff Bound
Red Dragons outlast Gators
October 26, 2016 Red Dragons outlast Gators
Gator Bites for October 11
October 11, 2016 Gator Bites for October 11
Sage falls short at MCLA
October 9, 2016 Sage falls short at MCLA
Gators Defeat Yeshiva 7-0
October 9, 2016 Gators Defeat Yeshiva 7-0
Gators Drop Skyline Home Opener
September 24, 2016 Gators Drop Skyline Home Opener
Gators run at Bard Invitational
September 17, 2016 Gators run at Bard Invitational
Sage Ties Bard 2-2
September 14, 2016 Sage Ties Bard 2-2
Gators fall at Potsdam, 4-1
September 14, 2016 Gators fall at Potsdam, 4-1
Gator Bites for September 13!
September 13, 2016 Gator Bites for September 13!
Sage Beats Southern Vermont 5-0
September 10, 2016 Sage Beats Southern Vermont 5-0
Union Edges Past Sage 1-0
September 3, 2016 Union Edges Past Sage 1-0
No. 23 Ithaca Tops Sage 2-0
September 3, 2016 No. 23 Ithaca Tops Sage 2-0
Gator Blogs!
March 25, 2014 Gator Blogs!