ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's volleyball team split two matches here today during a tri-match hosted by St. John Fisher College. The Wildcats opened the day with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-18) victory over Vassar College, before suffering a 3-0 (24-26, 21-25, 16-25) loss to the host Cardinals. Both Vassar and SJFC are NCAA Division III members and are both affiliated with the United Volleyball Conference.

Daemen is now 6-13 in its inaugural season. Vassar, which has participated in the NCAA Division III Tournament the past two years, went winless on the day and is now 12-12 on the year. St. John Fisher, which is in just its second year as a varsity sport, has won four-straight matches and is now 20-9.

Daemen held a 10-9 lead in the opening game against Vassar when a service error by the Brewers sparked the Wildcats on a 7-2 run that increased Daemen's lead to 17-11. Vassar answered with a 7-3 run that cut the lead to 20-18, and the Brewers later made it a one-point match (23-22). Daemen got a big kill from freshman Jahari Winkfield (Oswego, Ill.), and then secured the win following a Vassar attack error. Daemen scored six of the first eight points in game two, and the Wildcats later opened up a 13-3 lead following a combined block by freshmen Jesse Donorovich (Lockport, N.Y.) and fellow rookie Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia). Vassar cut the lead to seven points (14-7), before a 6-2 run gave Daemen a 20-9. Both teams made early runs in game three and the Wildcats held an 11-10 lead when they took control with a 10-3 run.

Wakefield had a team-high 10 kills for Daemen and also registered six digs. Freshman Kyle Kon (Oswego, N.Y.) added eight kills, while Donorovich contributed seven kills three blocks and three digs. Freshman Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) registered 29 assists, three aces and seven digs, while freshman Jaden Gillette (Spencerport, N.Y.) totaled a team-high eight digs.

Sophomore Ryan Duchemin registered a team-high nine kills for Vassar.

St. John Fisher jumped out to a 11-6 lead in game one, before Daemen rallied and eventually tied the game at 15-15. The game was tied at 18-18 when the Cardinals put together a 4-1 spurt for a 22-19 lead. Daemen answered with a 5-1 run and took a 24-23 lead following back-to-back kills by Winkfield and Krueger. The hosts then closed out the game with three unanswered points. Game two was tied at 11-11 when the hosts put together a 10-5 run. Daemen battled back came within two points (22-20), but SJFC scored three of the next four points to earn the 25-21 win. SJFC held a 13-10 lead in game three and took control with a 10-3 run.

Winkfield once again led the Wildcats with seven kills, while Kon added six kills and a team-high 10 digs. Krueger totaled 19 assists and seven digs, while freshman Ryan Beck (Pittsburgh, Pa.) chipped in eight digs.

Freshman Josh Bigford paced the Cardinals with nine kills, four blocks and nine digs, while senior Quinn Magiera handed out 30 assists.

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.

Daemen closes out its inaugural season by taking part in a tri-match at Vassar College on April 6. The Wildcats will face nationally-ranked Springfield College, before taking on Vassar. Springfield has claimed the last two—and five of the first seven—NCAA Division III national championships. The NCAA first sponsored a Division III national championship for men's volleyball in 2012.

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