MEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Albany, NY----The Sage Colleges men's volleyball team hosted the program's very first NCAA Division III match on Tuesday night in the Kahl Campus Center. Sage under the direction of rookie head coach Andy Smith opened competition against Skyline Conference opponent, Bard College.  Bard improves to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the Skyline Conference, while Sage is now 0-1 overall and 0-1 in the league. 

Bard won the first set 30-23 and took the second set by a score of 30-16. The decisive set went to the Raptors by a 30-24 score giving Bard the 3-0 victory.

Bard's senior outside hitter Henry Schenker (Verona, NJ/Verona) added six kills with 27 assists and a pair of blocks, while sophomore outside hitter Nick Chan (Victor, NY/Victor) added six kills, 11 assists, five digs and three aces in the match.  Junior outside hitter Maxwell Howard (Lafayette, CA/ Bentley) added nine kills with nine digs, while sophomore outside hitter Eliah Gardner (Chatham, NY/Chatham) had six kills with eight digs and a pair of aces.

Sage's freshman co-captain Anthony Gerace (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) racked up 20 assists with four digs and four blocks in his collegiate debut. Sage's other co-captain, rookie Kyle Ray (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) added nine kills with 13 digs. Freshman middle hitter Jed Kubisch (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem) had six kills with seven digs and three blocks for the Gators.

The Gators will return to action on Saturday, January 30 and Sunday, January 31 at the SUNY-IT Tournament. Sage will open pool play on Saturday facing Stevenson University and 10:30 a.m. before taking on Lasell at 12:30 p.m.

Bard returns to action on January 31 at Yeshiva University in a tri-match with Albertus Magnus commencing at noon.