HUNTINGDON, Pa. - The Daemen College men's volleyball team suffered losses to Southern Virginia University (3-0) and Wittenburg University (3-1) here today during second-day action of the Juniata College Invitational. SVU swept the best-of-five match by scores of 25-18, 25-16 and 25-14. Wittenberg took the match by scores of 25-22, 18-25, 25-18 and 25-13.

Today's results come after the Wildcats suffered a 3-0 loss to host Juniata last night. Daemen is now 1-5 in its inaugural season. Southern Virginia, which is ranked ninth nationally in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III poll, improved to 3-0 with the win. Whittenberg, which suffered a 3-1 loss to SVU last night, is now 3-3. WU competes in the NCAA Division III Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and was voted first in the AMCC preseason poll.

SVU held a 14-11 lead in the opening set when the Knights strung together a 4-1 spirt and opened up an 18-12 lead following a kill bu sophomore outside hitter Nahuel Recabarren (San Juan, Argentina). Daemen came within four points late (21-17), but another 4-1 run by the Knights earned SVU the win. SVU opened an early 5-1 lead in game two, before the Wildcats rallied and later pulled to within three points (10-7) following a kill by freshman Jahari Winkfield (Oswego, Ill.). The Knights responded with a 7-2 run to open up a 17-9 lead, and Daemen came no closer than seven points the rest of the way. Daemen scored four of the first six points in set three, before the Knights took control with a 15-3 run that gave SVU a 17-7 lead. The teams traded points the rest of the set.

Freshmen Kyle Kon (Oswego, N.Y.) led a balanced Daemen attack with seven kills, while freshman Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) added six kills. Freshman Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) registered 20 assists.

Recabarren, the reigning AVCA Division III National Player of the Week, led the Knights with 12 kills, while junior Kaipo Tagaloa (Lincoln, Neb.) handed out 27 assists.

WU jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first game and later took an 18-10 lead. Daemen responded with an 8-3 run and later cut the lead to two points (23-21) following a service ace by freshman Jesse Donorovich (Lockport, N.Y.). Wittenberg regrouped following a timeout and eventually closed out the set following a kill by senior Ashton Sellers (Westerville, Ohio). Daemen took advantage of six Wittenberg errors early in set two and the Wildcats jumped out to an 8-3 lead. Wittenberg quickly cut the lead to two points (10-8), and the DC lead was three points (16-13) when the Wildcats took control with a 7-1 spurt. WU cut the lead to six (23-17), but DC got kills from Winkfield and redshirt freshman Brandon Casterline (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) to close out the set. Set three saw the Tigers take an early 12-3 lead, and the Tigers later took a 19-8 lead following a kill by senior Isaiah Brock (Noblesville, Ind.). The Wildcats answered with an 10-3 run and cut the lead to four points (22-18). WU took the set following three-straight errors by the Wildcats. WU held a 12-9 lead in set four when the Tigers took control with an 11-1 run.

Donorovich led the Daemen attack with 10 kills, nine digs and three blocks. Moffitt added seven kills and three blocks, while Kon chipped in six kills and eight digs. Krueger totaled 28 assists and three blocks.

Sellers totaled a team-high 13 kills for the Tigers, while freshman Collin Buelow (Hillard, Ohio) added 12 kills and nine digs. Senior Ross Russell (Akron, Ohio) dished out 37 assists for WU.

Daemen officials announced the addition of men's volleyball in May of 2017. The addition was made possible by a $60,000 grant from the MotorMVB Foundation.  The MotorMVB Foundation (www.MotorMVB.com) is a non-profit organization that focuses on the growth of boys' and men's volleyball at all levels in the United States. Daemen became just the 27th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II men's volleyball program in the country when it made the announcement, and the only Division II team North of the Mason-Dixon Line.

The Wildcats return to action Tuesday (Jan. 29) when they host Elmira College. It will be the first "official" home match for Daemen, which hosted Brock University in an exhibition match last week.

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