Jesse Donorovich is one of two Daemen players to be averaging better than 3.0 kills per set this season

Wildcats Set For Juniata Invitational This Weekend

1/24/2019 10:30:00 AM

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

GAME INFORMATION & LINKS
MATCH #4: Daemen Wildcats (1-2) vs. Juniata Eagles (0-0)
Friday, Jan. 25 | 7:30 p.m. | Huntingdon, Pa. | Memorial Gymnasium | Juniata Invitational

MATCH #5: Daemen Wildcats (1-2) vs. Southern Virginia Knights (1-0)
Saturday, Jan. 26 | 11 a.m. | Huntingdon, Pa. | Memorial Gymnasium | Juniata Invitational

MATCH #6: Daemen Wildcats (1-2) vs. Wittenberg Tigers (2-2)
Saturday, Jan. 26 | 1 p.m. | Huntingdon, Pa. | Memorial Gymnasium | Juniata Invitational

LIVE STATS (all matches)
LIVE VIDEO (all matches)

THE SERVE
Daemen's inaugural season continues as they partake in the Juniata Invitational with three matches over a two-day span. They'll open up Friday against the tournament hosts, followed by back-to-back Saturday matches vs. Southern Virginia and Wittenberg. All three opponents are members of NCAA Division III, and Southern Virginia is ranked ninth in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III national poll released earlier this week. The Wildcats are coming off a 3-2 exhibition loss Wednesday evening in the program's first-ever home match against Ontario University Athletics member Brock.

THE BEARDED ONE
Don Gleason was named the first head men's volleyball coach at Daemen on May 5, 2017, the same day that the establishment of the program was announced. Gleason brings a wealth of experience to the position, including previous coaching stops at Stony Brook, Buffalo, Yale, Southern California and Medaille. In addition to his coaching responsibilities with the men's program, Gleason has served as an assistant coach with the Daemen women's team for the past three seasons, helping them to a pair of NCAA tournament berths.

THE FRESHMEN EXPERIENCE
Daemen is fielding a nine-man roster in this inaugural season, and all nine are freshman when it comes to athletic eligibility. Eight of the nine players are new to Daemen this year. Freshman setter Michael Krueger is expected to run the team's offense, and he'll be distributing to the likes of Jahari Winkfield and Jesse Donorovich, both of whom are adjusting to more playing time on the pin after playing primary in the middle during their respective scholastic careers. Australian product Henry Moffitt gives the Wildcats a big presence down the middle with his 6-foot-6 frame. Defensively, the Wildcats will rely on freshmen Ryan Beck and Jaden Gillette to dig balls in the back row.

OUT-BATTLING THE BATTLERS
Daemen picked up the first win in program history in their debut match, defeating the Alderson Broaddus Battlers in a five-set thriller on Jan. 11 as part of the Red Flash Invitational. Jahari Winkfield (Oswego, Ill.), Jesse Donorovich (Lockport, N.Y.), Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) and Jaden Gillette (Spencerport, N.Y.) paced the Wildcats. Winkfield, a 6-foot-4 right side/middle hitter totaled a team-high 20 kills—including six in the fifth set alone. Donorovich, a 6-foot-5 outside hitter/right side, posted 18 kills (five in the fifth set) and also totaled two service aces, five blocks and eight digs. Krueger, a 6-foot-2 setter, handed out 47 assists and also recorded eight digs. Gillette, a 5-foot-10 defensive specialist, registered 18 digs.

BUMPED BY BROCK
A late rally in the fifth set came up just short as Daemen dropped a 3-2 seesaw-like affair (23-25, 28-26, 23-25, 25-23, 12-15) to visiting Brock in exhibition action on Jan. 23. Although the outcome didn't count in their official win-loss record in this inaugural season, the match went down as the Wildcats' first-ever at the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium. Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) led a balanced offensive effort for Daemen, finishing with 12 kills on 24 attempts without committing a hitting error (.500 hitting percentage). Brandon Casterline (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) attacked at a .474 clip, finishing with 11 kills on 19 attempts. Jesse Donorovich (Lockport, N.Y.) also reached double figures with 10 kills, and the Wildcats got eight kills apiece from Jahari Winkfield (Oswego, Ill.) and Kyle Kon (Oswego, N.Y.).

JUNIATA SCOUTING REPORT
Juniata is led by head coach Glenn DeHaven, an alumnus of the program who is now in his third season at the helm. Over the last two seasons, DeHaven has led the Eagles to a 41-24 overall record. Juniata competes in the Continental Volleyball Conference. They'll return 11 players from their 2018 team that went 19-13 overall and 9-4 in CVC play. Senior Quinn Peterson headlines the returners after earning CVC Player of the Year honors last season. Peterson racked up a CVC-best 451 kills (3.99 kills/set) and added 59 blocks in 2018. The Eagles will be making their season debut Friday against Daemen. Two scheduled matches vs. Medaille and Alvernia were canceled last weekend due to Winter Storm Harper.

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA SCOUTING REPORT
Southern Virginia is a member of the Continental Volleyball Conference, and the Knights are led by one of the most accomplished collegiate coaches in history, Dr. Tom Peterson. Now in his third season at SVU, Peterson wasted little time in establishing the Knights as a premier Division III program, guiding them to a 39-14 record to date. Peterson holds more than 30 years of experience, and has coached at several prominent programs including BYU, Penn State, Utah, Utah State and New Mexico. He led Penn State and BYU to national championships. Nine players return from SVU's 2018 team that went 16-8 overall and 8-5 in CVC play. Among the returners is first team All-CVC honoree Paul Clark (Sr., outside hitter) and CVC Rookie of the Year Nahuel Recabarren (So., outside hitter). Clark (277 kills) and Recabarren (223 kills) combined for 500 kills last season. Recabarren was recently named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division III National Player of the Week after posting 21 kills in a win over #15 Elms on Jan. 18.

WITTENBERG SCOUTING REPORT
Wittenberg is led by second-year head coach Ryan Thompson who guided the Tigers to a 14-11 overall record in 2018. The Tigers are in their first season as members of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference after competing in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League during previous seasons. Thompson brings back 13 players off his 2018 roster, including four who posted more than 130 kills. That group is led by senior middle hitter Ashton Sellers who posted a team-high 291 kills last season. Senior setter Ross Russell also returns after recording 737 assists in 2018. The Tigers split four matches at their own tournament, the Jim Coleman Invitational, last weekend. The Tigers picked up wins over Lakeland (3-0) and Mount Union (3-0), but suffered defeats to Carthage (3-1) and UC Santa Cruz (3-0).

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium where they'll host Elmira on Tuesday, Jan. 29.

Print Friendly Version