Albany, NY— The Sage College men's volleyball team hosted the Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology in a match-up in United Volleyball Conference play on Sunday afternoon in Kahl Gym. Stevens, which is currently ranked No. 2 in Division III in the latest AVCA poll, posted the 3-1 win over the Gators (25-6, 25-12, 13-25, 25-18) and improve to 14-2 overall and 5-1 in the league. Sage drops to 6-10 overall and 1-4 in the UVC.
Stevens got a team-best 14 kills from sophomore outside hitter Ryan Byrne (Mastic, NY/Eastport-South Manor) as he finished with 18.0 points. Byrnes added a .667 attack percentage four aces, two digs and was a perfect 12-0 on reception attempts in the match. Sophomore outside hitter Jack Bittker (Penfield, NY/Penfield) had eight kills while senior outside hitter Dylan DeBoer (Vernon Hills, IL) added five kills and two digs for the Ducks. Stevens combined for 10 aces as rookie Jack Fyda (Park Ridge, IL) and Byrne each added four in the match. Junior setter Grant Burden (Palos Park, IL) racked up 30 setting assists with an ace, while Fyda and junior libero Michael Snajder (Monore, CT) each had five digs.
For the Gators, junior outside hitter Shane Wenz (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) added 9.5 points with six kills, three digs, four total blocks and an ace. Junior middle hitter Scott Sanders (Los Angeles, CA/Taft) also finished with six kills and had a .231 attack percentage with two block assists.
Gator co-captain Mike Basile (Feeding Hills, MA/Agawam) posted five digs with an ace and five kills, while senior co-captain Zackery Karl (West Monroe, NY/Central Square) collected five kills with three digs.
Junior outside hitter Jarod Martel (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) finished with two kills and two digs and was 7-0 on reception attempts in the contest. Sophomore setter Ryan Jennings (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick Township) racked up 24 setting assists with two kills, four digs, and an ace.
Rookie opposite Deshawn Fleary (Newark, NJ/Immaculate Conception Montclair) added three kills with three digs and a block assist.
On the 2019 season, Sanders leads Sage with his 141.5 points with 113 kills and 27 total blocks. Karl has a team-best 25 aces on the season, while standing at the No. 6 spot on the career list with his 67 aces. Wenz is currently 10th in career kills with 333 and is now third all-time with his 154 career total blocks. Wenz is currently 10th in career points with 463.5 points and is 10th in career sets played (295). Karl has 512.5 career points and is 9th on the Gator career list, while his 372 career kills is 8th.
Sage is back in action on Wednesday, March 6 hosting SUNY-New Paltz in a 7 p.m. UVC match in Kahl Gym.
