UTICA, N.Y. - The SUNY Poly men's volleyball team hosted their annual Invitational Tournament this weekend. The tournament featured eight teams from three different states and three teams that were featured in the top 15 of the AVCA DIII National Coaches Poll last week. The Tournament featured 16 matches over two days. The Wildcats went 1-3 with their first win of the young season coming in their game on Saturday against Misericordia. James Mion had a solid four games for the Wildcats, earning him a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

2023 SUNY POLY MEN'S VOLLEYBALL INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:

Owen Wickens - Nazareth (Tournament MVP)

Maxwell Barr - Juniata

Josh Bigford - St. John Fisher

Trent Caviness - Nazareth

Anthony DePalma - Misericordia

Tyler Goldsborough - Juniata

James Mion - SUNY Poly

Hunter Oshman - Wentworth

Dylan Urbanski - Nichols

Joe Zimmerman - Potsdam

TOURNAMENT STANDINGS:

T-1st     #8 Juniata                    (4-0) **

T-1st     #11 St John Fisher       (4-0) **

T-1st     Nazareth                      (4-0) **

4th        #3 Wentworth             (1-3) [-2*]

5th        Nichols                        (1-3) [-5*]

T-6th     SUNY Poly                   (1-3) **

T-6th     SUNY Potsdam            (1-3) **

8th        Misericordia                 (0-4)

* Tiebreaker was a point total where a set win was worth 1 pt. and a set loss was worth -1 pt.

** Point totals were identical.

GAME #1:

Nazareth - 3

SUNY Poly - 0

[25-21, 25-21, 25-16]

The Wildcats were beaten in straight sets in their first match of the season. Poly played Nazareth tough in the first two sets, out-hitting them .273 - .111 in the first set and .333 - .312 in the second. The difference in the match was on service where the Wildcats did not manage a single ace while making 18 service errors to the six errors made by Nazareth.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Owen Wickens had a match-high 17 kills for Nazareth. He hit a respectable .448 on his 29 swings and had a game-high 10 digs.
• Peter Gottler had a great game in his debut for the Wildcats. The freshman outside hitter had a team-high eight kills on 20 swings with a .300 hitting percentage.
• James Mion and Jason Aubrey both recorded seven kills in the match. Mion had three total blocks with a solo block and a block assist. Aubrey had four digs, a block assist, and a solo block in the match.
• Alex Bertino had nine kills for Nazareth. He also had an ace, three digs, and a block assist.
• Nathan Farnham had a match-high 27 assists, six digs, and a match-high four block assists for SUNY Poly.

GAME #2:

#8 Juniata - 3

SUNY Poly - 1

[21-25, 25-12, 25-18, 25-20]

SUNY Poly squared off with #8 ranked Juniata in their second game of the season. The Wildcats fought them hard in the first set, earning a 25-21 win thanks in large part to a fantastic team hitting percentage (.316). The Juniata attack snapped into shape in the second, third, and fourth set hitting over .500 combined to earn a convincing 3-1 win. Again, the Wildcats serving was spotty, registering 22 errors and six aces.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Jason Aubrey was outstanding for the Wildcats. He recorded a match-high 16 kills on 24 swings and had an ace. He was just one kill shy of his career high.
• Will Phelan paced Juniata with 15 kills on 24 swings.
• Juniata's Tyler Goldsborough had 12 kills and a pair of service aces.
• Peter Gottler had six kills and a solo block for the Wildcats.
• James Mion had a pair of aces, two kills, a solo block, and a pair of block assists for the Wildcats.
• Tyler Phillips had a match-high eight digs for Juniata. He also had four block assists.

GAME #3

Misericordia - 2

SUNY Poly - 3

[19-25, 25-18, 25-23, 24-26, 16-14]

In their first match on Saturday, the Wildcats won a five-set thriller over Misericordia. The Wildcats were much better on service in the third match of the weekend. They recorded 14 service aces as a team. They had five solo blocks and six block assists in the match and hit .252 as a team on 111 swings.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Jason Aubrey had a team-high 13 kills on 38 swings, had a team-high 10 digs, and had a team-high four service aces to lead the Wildcats.
• Kohei Clark hit .286 with 11 kills on 21 swings. He also recorded a pair of service aces and a pair of digs for SUNY Poly.
• Jordan Weir had nine kills, two aces, a solo block, and a block assist in the middle for the Wildcats.
• Anthony DePalma was great for Misericordia. He recorded a match-high 16 kills with a team-high 10 digs and an ace.
• Joe Kozak had eight on 15 swings, a team-high four aces, two block solos, and a block assist for Misericordia.
• Nathan Farnham had a match-high 42 assists, an ace, and six digs for the Wildcats.

GAME #4

#3 Wentworth - 3

SUNY Poly - 1

[27-29, 25-16, 25-14, 25-10]

The Wildcat's second game against a nationally ranked opponent went much the same as their first. The Wildcats got off to a hot start, outhitting Wentworth .225 - .059 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Unfortunately, for the Wildcats, just like in their game against #8 Juniata, Wentworth hit the gas and cruised to a 3-1 victory with big wins in the second, third, and fourth sets. Wentworth hit a ridiculous .800 as a team in the decisive fourth set.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Jason Aubrey was great for the Wildcats. He had a team-high 14 kills, six digs, and an ace.
• James Mion was effective for the Wildcats with six kills on 13 swings and a solo block.
• Kohei Clark had nine kills, a pair of aces, three digs, and a block assist for SUNY Poly.
• Nathan Farnham had a match-high 28 assists, four kills, and a dig for Poly.
• Sam Etter had a team-high eight kills for Wentworth with an ace, six digs, and a pair of block assists.
• Nicolai Bell had a well-rounded game for Wentworth. He had six kills two aces, a solo block, and four block assists.
• Matthew Zegowitz had a match-high seven block assists for Wentworth.

UP NEXT:

The Wildcats will return to action on Wednesday, January 25th at home against Sage College. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 PM start at SUNY Poly's Wildcat Field House. The game will be streamed live on the SUNY Poly Sports Network (SPSN)

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