MVB: 2018 Season Comes to a Close With a Loss to Wells in the NEAC Semifinal.

Photo Credit: Bryan Chang
Photo Credit: Bryan Chang

LANCASTER, PA. - The SUNY Poly men's volleyball team traveled to Lancaster, Pennsylvania this weekend to take part in the North Eastern Athletic Conference Final Four, hosted by Lancaster Bible. The #3 seeded Wildcats were matched up with the #2 seeded Wells Express in the Semifinal game on Saturday. Unfortunately, the game did not go as planned for the Wildcats who fell to the Express 3-1.

The Express took a 1-0 lead in the first set in a closely contested 29-27 battle. The Wildcats tied up the match in the second with a 25-21 win, but the Express closed out the match with a 25-22 win in the third and a 25-21 win in the fourth to secure a championship game appearance. The Express will face host and #1 seed Lancaster Bible.

STAT POINTS:

  • Senior setter Zach Goggin (Feeding Hills, Mass.) wrapped up his illustrious career with a match high 47 assists, two kills, five digs, and four block assists. He finished his career with 3,502 assists (1st all-time), 251 kills, 546 digs (5th all-time) and 129 total blocks (5th all-time). It is very likely that his name will remain atop the all-time assist page in the SUNY Poly record book for a very long time.
  • Donovan Suguitan (Clifton Park, N.Y.) had a team high 13 kills in the match on 33 swings. He finished his freshman campaign with 190 kills and a .205 hitting percentage.
  • James Homan (Fairport, N.Y.) had 11 kills and hit a team high .562 in the match. James also had four block assists. This season James was second on his team with 55 total blocks and was fourth with 120 kills.
  • Max Szuba (Irondequoit, N.Y.) had 10 kills, and five digs in the match for the Wildcats. He wrapped up his junior season with a team high 251 kills and 171 digs.
  • Ryan Gloff (Brockport, N.Y.) had eight kills and a service ace. He finishes his season with 27 service aces and 215 kills.
  • Garrett Hassard (Oneonta, N.Y.) wrapped up his sophomore season with an eight kill performance. He also had a block assist to bring his season total to a team high 62 which ranks ninth best on the single season blocks list.
  • Brian Malsan (Slingerlands, N.Y.) had a team high nine digs in the match to bring his season total to a team high 230. He is now fifth all-time with 626 career digs.
  • Robert Patzer and Brannon Perdicho led the Express with a match high 15 kills each. Patzer hit .321 with 10 digs and five block assists. Perdicho hit .119 with five digs.
  • Caden O'Loughlin had 12 kills on 25 swings for the Express.
  • Kevin Batmunkh had a match high three service aces.

SEASON WRAP-UP:

The Wildcats finish the 2018 season with a 14-15 overall record and a 7-2 record in NEAC play.  Coach Katie Kenny's first season as Head Coach saw the Wildcats take on a tough non-conference schedule with a young roster. The early adversity paid off as the Wildcats finished the 2018 season strong, winning eight of their last 10 regular season games, finishing as the #3 seed in the NEAC. The Wildcats will have a solid core returning for the 2019 season. Six of their seven starters from this season will return meaning that the future is bright for this program.