Albany, NY— The Sage Colleges' men's volleyball team hosted the Bison of Nichols College on Thursday night in a non-conference match.  Sage earned the 3-0 win (25-16, 25-18, 25-21) and is now 5-3, while riding a three-match win streak. Nichols falls to 2-4 on the season.

Junior outside hitter Shane Wenz (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) added a team-best nine kills with a .375 attack percentage and finished with three digs and four block assists.  Junior outside hitter Jarod Martel (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) had seven kills as did junior middle hitter Scott Sanders (Los Angeles, CA/Taft). Martel added a pair of block assists, while Sanders had a .400 attack percentage with an ace and two block assists.

Sage's sophomore co-captain Mike Basile (Feeding Hills, MA/Agawam) picked up five kills with four digs and senior co-captain Zackery Karl (West Monroe, NY/Central Square) also contributed five kills with 11 digs, an ace and a block assist.

Sophomore setter Ryan Jennings (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick Township) handed out 14 setting assists with a dig, while senior Austin Laverty (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) added 20 setting assists with six digs and an ace in the win as the Gators combined for five aces, while holding their opponents to a 0.049 attack percentage.

Sage combined for a .239 attack percentage in the action and had 12 blocking assists in the contest.   

With the release of the latest NCAA Division III statistics, Sage's team and players are among the nationally ranked student-athletes. Sanders is 16^th nationally with his hitting percentage average of 0.400 and is also ranked in attacks per set (5.0), kills per set (2.54), and points (3.04) per set. Karl ranked 36^th nationally with his 0.625 aces per set average and 84^th in hitting percentage (.253), while also ranking in the Top 200 players in digs per set and points per set averages. Jennings is also ranked as he stands 68^th in aces per set averages (0.458) and is also 63^rd in setting assists per set (6.67).  Basile, who earned a selection to the United Volleyball Conference Weekly Honor Roll on February 5, is ranked 47^th in digs per set average (2.44) as well as in hitting percentage (0.188), kills per set (2.17), and points per set (2.5).

As a team, Martin's Gators are nationally ranked nine categories including a No. 19 ranking in aces per set average (2.04), and 25^th in opponent hitting percentage holding their opponents to a 0.131 attack percentage through seven matches.

Sage is back in action on Saturday, February 9 travelling to Springfield College for a tri-match with St. Joseph's College-LI. Sage will face No. 1 ranked Springfield College at 1 p.m. and the Golden Eagles of St. Joe's at 3 p.m. in Springfield, Massachusetts.