Men's Volleyball Hosts Wells Tuesday Night

2/25/2019 2:49:00 PM

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

GAME INFORMATION & LINKS
MATCH #11: Daemen Wildcats (3-7) vs. Wells Express (10-6)
Tuesday, Feb. 26 | 7 p.m. | Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium

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THE SERVE
Daemen's inaugural season continues as they host Wells for the first time at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats have been idle since splitting their two contests as part of the D'Youville quad-match on Sunday, Feb. 17. The Wildcats opened the day by downing Medaille 3-1 - their second win over the Mavericks this month - before falling 3-0 to the host Spartans. Wells has won three of their last four matches.

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.

MANHANDLING THE MAVERICKS
In the first-ever meeting between Daemen and Medaille, the Wildcats ousted their crosstown rivals in three sets on Feb. 9. Led by setter Michael Krueger (26 assists) and outside hitter Kyle Kon (team-high nine kills), Daemen attacked at a season-best .246 clip. On the flip side, Medaille committed 21 hitting errors and 20 service errors. It marked Daemen's first regular season home match, and their first-ever win at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats followed up with a 3-1 win over Medaille on Feb. 17 as part of the D'Youville quad-match. Kon led the way again with 16 kills, while Krueger tallied 39 assists.

REGARDING HENRY
Freshman middle hitter Henry Moffitt was named to the all-tournament team at the Juniata Invitational. The 6-foot-7 Aussie totaled 16 kills over three tournament matches, and attacked at a .353 clip. He averaged 1.6 kills and 1.0 blocks per set, and became the first-ever Daemen player to earn all-tournament team honors.

WELLS SCOUTING REPORT
Wells is a member of NCAA Division III and the North Eastern Athletic Conference. The Express are led by first-year head coach Jim Nichols, a 15-year player on the AVP Pro Beach Tour who was elevated to the position after serving as an assistant coach in 2017 and 2018. As an assistant, Nichols helped Wells advance to the NEAC championship match in each of the last two seasons. Just four players return from Wells' 2018 team that went 21-8 overall and 7-1 in NEAC play. That group is headlined by first team All-NEAC outside hitter Caden O'Loughlin, as well as third team All-NEAC picks Robert Patzer and Josh Undari. Patzer, a 6-foot-6 right-side hitter, was also named the 2018 NEAC Rookie of the Year. The Express are off to a 10-6 start this season, including a 2-1 mark in NEAC play. They've won three of their last four matches, and their only recent setback was a 3-2 final against the top-ranked Division III team in the country, Springfield. O'Laughlin (4.27 kills/set) and Patzer (2.95 kills/set) have paced the Wells offense which is being run by Undari (9.66 assists/set).

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen will play four matches at the Wells Classic MVB Tournament this weekend (Mar. 1-2), taking on SUNY Poly, Lasell, Misericordia and host Wells.

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