ALBANY, N.Y. - The Sage Colleges men's volleyball team opened its 2011 season on Wednesday evening with a 3-0 win over Southern Vermont College in the Kahl Center. The contest was the first of the year for both clubs and gives Sage a 1-0 start to the new campaign, while the Mountaineers drop to 0-1.

Sage tallied the 3-0 win as it recorded a win in the first set, 25-13 and then took the second set, 25-12. The decisive set went to Sage, 25-18.

Sage's junior co-captain and middle hitter Spencer Hilland had a strong debut as a Gator after he tallied 15 kills with four digs and four aces. Sophomore co-captain Kyle Ray, a 2010 Skyline Conference Second Team honoree, added 26 setting assists with a pair of aces.

Freshman Ryan Wilkins connected for nine kills with six digs for the Gators. For the match, he had a .610 attacking percentage to lead the team.

SVC's senior setter, Neel Patel added 10 setting assists in the match, while senior Aaron Eschler had six digs. Sophomore Sean Moore added six kills, but it was not enough as rookie head coach Joshua Stokes was unsuccessful in his debut on the Mountaineer bench.

The Gators will travel to SUNY-IT for a tournament on January 22-23 where they will face Lasell College, Stevenson, Hilbert and Bard on the courts.

The Mountaineers return to action on January 22 for an 11:00 a.m. road match at Regis College.