AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's volleyball team capped off its season-opening stretch of games against high-profile Division I opponents with a 3-1 loss to Harvard University (21-25, 25-17, 25-23, 26-24) tonight at Lumsden Gymnasium tonight.

Daemen (0-3) opened just the second season in program history with a 3-0 loss (25-16, 25-16, 25-17) to 19-time national champion and No. 2-ranked UCLA on January 2 and fell to No. 8 Pepperdine University in straight sets (25-19, 25-20, 25-15) two nights ago. All three matches were played before capacity—or near capacity—crowds at Lumsden Gymnasium.

Harvard, which suffered a 3-1 loss to Pepperdine at Lumsden Gym last night, improved to 3-2 on the year.  

TOP PERFORMERS

• Freshman middle blocker Ethan McCrary led the way for Harvard with a match-high 14 kills and just one attack error.
• Junior outside hitter Adam Gordon added 12 kills and three service aces, while senior setter Matthew Ctvrtlik chipped in 42 assists and seven digs.
• North Tonawanda native Campbell Schoenfeld (Starpoint HS) contributed nine kills, two aces and five digs for the Crimson. 
• Right-side hitter Zach Yerington (Hamburg, N.Y.), a graduate transfer from Ohio State University, posted a season-high 13 kills for the Wildcats and also established a new program record for blocks in a game with seven.
• Freshman outside hitter Ryan Parker (Fairport, N.Y.) totaled eight kills, a season-high six blocks and four digs, while classmate Zach Schneider (Lockport N.Y.) totaled a season-high 12 kills and a season-high 11 digs.
• Sophomore setter Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) put up a season-high 37 assists and added seven digs. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Daemen opened the night with a 25-21 win in set one. The teams traded points for most of the set and Harvard held a 16-15 lead when a kill by sophomore Jesse Donorovich (Lockport, N.Y.) sparked the Wildcats on an 8-3 run. A kill by Parker capped the spurt and gave Daemen a 23-19 lead. The teams then traded points and Daemen took a 25-21 win.
• Harvard answered with a 25-17 win in set two. The Crimson held a 10-8 lead early in the set and took control with an 11-4 run that gave the visitors a 21-12 lead.
• The Crimson outlasted the Wildcats 25-23 in set two. A back-and-forth set from the start, neither team led by more than two points until Harvard took a 23-20 lead following an ace by Schoenfeld. Daemen rallied and cut the lead to a point, 24-23, but a service error by the Wildcats gave the set to Harvard.
• Harvard closed out the match with a 26-24 win in set four. Harvard appeared in control after a 5-2 run gave the visitors a 19-15 lead, but Daemen answered with an 8-4 run and took a 23-22 lead following a kill by Parker. Back-to-back kills by Harvard put the visitors up 24-23, and a kill by Yerington knotted it at 24-24. A kill by McCary and a bad set by Daemen closed out the set and the match.
• The Crimson totaled 49 kills and had a .227 hitting percentage in the match. Daemen posted 42 kills and a season-best .252 hitting percentage.  

GAME NOTES

• Daemen is competing in just the second season in program history. The Wildcats fielded a roster entirely of first-year college players last spring during a 6-17 campaign. The Wildcats boast a 17-man roster this year, essentially doubling the amount of available bodies from a year ago. The roster includes eight returners and nine newcomers.
• Harvard is a member of the Ivy League, and for men's volleyball they compete in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. 
• The Crimson return 11 players from their 2019 team that went 6-16 overall and 5-9 in EIVA play. They've been picked fifth out of eight teams in the EIVA preseason coaches' poll.
• Daemen's .252 hitting percentage tonight ranks as the fourth highest in the two-year history of the program.
• Krueger has now reached double figure assists in all 26 matches he's played in since the start of last season. Tonight's output marked his 16th career match with 25+ assists.
• Yerington has led the team in kills in all three matches thus far. 

WHAT'S NEXT

Daemen is idle until Jan. 26 when it travels across town for a match at D'Youville College.