Sage Hires Andy Smith as First Men's Volleyball Head Coach
Troy, NY - The Sage College Athletic Department is pleased to announce the hiring of Andy Smith as the Head Coach of their new Men's Volleyball program. Smith, a native of Scotia, NY, will lead Sage’s new program with competition in the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA), with future competition against Skyline Conference rivals as well as regional powers from Vassar, Stevens Tech, Springfield and New Paltz.
Troy, NY - The
Sage College Athletic Department is pleased to announce the hiring
of Andy Smith as the Head Coach of their new Men's Volleyball
program. Smith, a native of Scotia, NY, will lead Sage’s new
program with competition in the North East Collegiate Volleyball
Association (NECVA), with future competition against Skyline
Conference rivals as well as regional powers from Vassar, Stevens
Tech, Springfield and New Paltz.
As part of their athletics expansion, Sage will compete in six
men’s varsity sports over the next three years, beginning
with Tennis and Golf in 2008-09, followed by Basketball and
Volleyball in 2009-10. With Smith’s hiring, the Gators have a
full staff in place to lead them through the 2009-10 seasons.
Previous hires include last week’s appointment of Brian
Barnes, a native of Troy and former player at UAlbany, to coach the
Men’s Basketball team. Fellow Troy native Andrea Hanley took
over the reigns of the women’s club lacrosse program last
year and will lead them into varsity play in the spring of
2009.
Cedric Gaddis, Sage’s women’s tennis coach, will assume
duties as Sage’s Men’s tennis head coach in Fall
‘09. Gaddis also coaches the Adirondack Men’s Open
Empire State Games team. Rounding out the newest members of the
coaching staff is Luke Scala, Head Coach of the Men’s Golf
team. Scala is well-known in the area as a PGA Golf Professional
and currently serves as the pro at Van Schaick Island Country Club
in Cohoes.
With the addition of Men’s Volleyball at Sage, the Gators
will become the only Division III Men’s Volleyball program in
the Capital region and Smith hopes to tap into a wealth of local
talent to begin the building process. "The capital district is rich
with talented boys volleyball players…I am excited for the
opportunity to showcase these players close to home in the Sage
program,” said Smith.
Smith completed his BS in Physical Education at SUNY Cortland in
2006. He served as the Graduate Assistant coach for their highly
successful Red Dragon Women’s Volleyball program since 2005
and been head coach of the McGraw High School Girls’ Varsity
team since 2006. He is slated to complete his MS in Teaching
(Health Ed) in December, 2008. As a student-athlete, Smith played
on the Cortland Men’s Volleyball Club team that won NYS
Championships in 2007 & 2008 and were national qualifiers in
2005, ’07, and ’08.
“Andy is a great example of a terrific young coach that will
help Sage improve and expand our Athletics program,” said
Sage’s Athletic Director Dani Drews. “He learned the
ropes as a player and coach in one of the top programs in the
Northeast and we are confident that he will be able to translate
that experience into building a strong, men’s volleyball
program at Sage.”
Smith will officially begin at Sage on August 1st. For more
information on Sage Athletics, visit their website at
www.sagegators.com.
.jpg?max_width=767)
