Buffalo, N.Y. - The SUNY Poly men's volleyball team traveled west to Buffalo for their final North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) pool play event of the season. Entering the event, the Wildcats were tied for third place, needing to retain their position to qualify for the NEAC Championship Tournament. The Wildcats went 2-1 in the three-match event, losing to Medaille, but beating D'Youville and Hilbert to hold their place in the standings. The Wildcats will be the fourth seed in the upcoming Conference Championships.

MATCH ONE

The Wildcats faced Medaille in the first match of the weekend. The Wildcats fell 0-3 in the match 22-25, 12-25, 20-25. As a team, the Wildcats struggled on the attack hitting just .092 overall while the Mavericks hit just shy of .300 as a team.

Ryan Gloff (Brockport, N.Y.) had a team high seven kills in the match. He hit .333 on 15 swings and had a team high seven digs and a block assist.

Medaille's Joe Digesare and Calvin Crosby each had a game high eight assists. Digesare hit a game high .538 on 13 swings, had four digs, and a service ace. Crosby hit .312 on 16 swings, had four block assists, and a service ace. Shawn Barbalato had a game high five block assists in the game. He also had seven kills.

MATCH TWO

In game two, the Wildcats took down D'Youville in three sets 25-20, 25-17, 25-14. The Wildcats hit a season high .423 as a team and had four players hit over .333 in the match.

Ryan Gloff led the way for the Wildcats on the attack, hitting .579 with a game high 11 kills with no hitting errors. Max Szuba (Irondequoit, N.Y.) had nine kills in the match, a team high two service aces, and a solo block. James Homan (Fairport, N.Y.) had a game high three total blocks and hit an impressive .875 with seven kills.

For D'Youville, Pat Stroh had a team high nine kills, four digs and a block. Ryan Kilijanski had seven kills and a game high four service aces. D'Youville as a team hit just .080 in the match.

MATCH THREE

In the third match of the weekend, the Wildcats clinched a playoff berth with a 3-0 win over Hilbert 27-25, 25-12, 25-14. The Wildcats were effective again on the attack, hitting .342 in the match. The Cats' also had a weekend high seven total blocks and 14 service aces in the match.

Nick Hagen (Hilton, N.Y.) had a team high seven kills and a game high five block assists. Max Szuba and James Homan had six kills each in the match. Szuba had a game high four service aces and a block assist. Homan hit .600 and had a block assist. Brian Malsan (Slingerlands, N.Y.) had a game high 10 digs in the match.

For Hilbert, Michael Podgorny had a game high 17 kills and seven digs. Brandon Henry had a team high nine digs in the match.

The Wildcats ended their conference season with an 11-5 record, finishing in fourth place and qualifying for the NEAC Championship Tournament on February 15th and 16th at Penn State Altoona. The Wildcats will face host Penn State Altoona in the first round of the tournament at 4:00 PM on Friday April 14th. The championship game will take place on Saturday at 1:00 PM. Before the Championship tournament, the Wildcats will wrap up their regular season against Nazareth and Elmira in a tri-math at Elmira on Saturday, April 8th at 2:00 and 4:00 PM.