Albany, NY— The Sage College men's volleyball team hosted the Mountaineers of Southern Vermont College on Tuesday night in a non-conference match. The Gators posted the 3-0 win, topping SVC, 25-14, 25-21, 25-9. Sage improves to 9-16 overall, while SVC drops to 6-14.
Playing in his last home match of his career, Sage's senior co-captain Zackery Karl (West Monroe, NY/Central Square) led the Gators with his 15.5 points and 13 kills. Karl added a .500 attack percentage as well as two aces with six digs and had an .833 receiving percentage making just two errors in 10 attempts.
Junior outside hitter Jarod Martel (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) tacked up seven kills and a .429 attack percentage to go with his seven digs with one block assists and had 7.5 points in the match. Junior Scott Sanders (Los Angeles, CA/Taft) picked up six kills with three aces, two digs and two block assists with a .556 attack percentage and 10.0 points.
Sophomore co-captain Mike Basile (Feeding Hills, MA/Agawam) had three kills with two digs and no receiving errors. Junior outside hitter Shane Wenz (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) added five kills with six digs and no receiving errors on his six attempts with a block assist.
Sophomore setter Ryan Jennings (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick Township) racked up 30 setting assists, with one ace, three digs and one kill. Rookie opposite Deshawn Fleary (Newark, NJ/Immaculate Conception) had three kills and two digs as the Gators combined for a .414 attack percentage with six aces.
For SVC, senior opposite Isaiah Backels (Weare, NH/Pinkerton Academy) had five kills with four aces and had no errors in 17 receiving attempts. He also added four digs and finished with 9.0 points. Senior defensive specialist Adrian Dickerson (Bristol, VT/Mount Abraham Union) picked up four kills with three digs and a .857 receiving percentage in the match. Sophomore defensive specialist Skyler O'Dell (Bennington, VT/Mount Anthony Union) had eight digs with a .867 receiving percentage for the Mountaineers.
For the Gators, several student-athletes continue to leave their mark in the Sage men's volleyball record book. Jennings is currently third all-time with his 1,067 career setting assists in just 171 sets played. Wenz is third with his 169 career total blocks, while also ranking ninth now with his 389 career kills. Karl is currently sixth with 425 career kills, fifth in career aces (76), while standing sixth as well with his 134 career total blocks. Karl is also sixth with his 581.5 points and Wenz is right behind him with 534.0 points. Sanders is now 10th on the career kill list with 357 kills, while also ranking ninth with his 108 career total blocks.
Sage returns to action on April 6 travelling to New Jersey City University for a tri-match with Neumann University. Southern Vermont College will host Elms College on April 4 at 7 p.m. and hold their Senior Night in conjunction with the match.
