Men's Volleyball Hosts Five-Match Event This Weekend

Wildcats To Face Wittenberg, St. John Fisher & Alderson Broaddus

1/30/2020 11:00:00 AM

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

DAEMEN QUINT-MATCH - EVENT SCHEDULE & INFORMATION

FRIDAY, JANUARY 31 - LUMSDEN GYMNASIUM (AMHERST, N.Y.)
5:00 PM - WITTENBERG TIGERS (2-6, 0-0 AMCC) VS. ST. JOHN FISHER CARDINALS (6-1, 0-0 UVC)
7:00 PM - DAEMEN WILDCATS (1-3) VS. WITTENBERG TIGERS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1 - LUMSDEN GYMNASIUM (AMHERST, N.Y.)
12:00 PM - DAEMEN WILDCATS VS. ST. JOHN FISHER CARDINALS
2:00 PM - WITTENBERG TIGERS VS. ALDERSON BROADDUS BATTLERS (0-2)
4:00 PM - DAEMEN WILDCATS VS. ALDERSON BROADDUS BATTLERS

THE SERVE: 10 THINGS TO KNOW
1. Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium to host a five-match event that features fellow Division II member Alderson Broaddus as well as Division III teams from Wittenberg and St. John Fisher.

2. After opening the season with losses to high-profile Division I opponents UCLA, Pepperdine and Harvard, Daemen got off the proverbial schneid with a 3-0 win at D'Youville last Sunday. Freshman outside hitter Zach Schneider recorded his first career double-double (11 kills, 10 digs) to lead the way. Daemen totaled 36 kills - a season-high for a three-set match - and had a season-best .324 hitting percentage while limiting the host Spartans to just 17 kills and a -0.13 hitting percentage.

3. Daemen is led once again by Don Gleason who was named the first head coach in program history back in May of 2017. Before coming to Daemen, Gleason made assistant coaching stops at Stony Brook, Buffalo, Yale, Southern California and Medaille. He played an integral role in establishing the formation of Daemen's program, including the pursuit of a $60,000 grant from the First Point Volleyball Foundation (formerly MotorMVB). Founded by UCLA head coach John Speraw, the First Point Volleyball Foundation is assisting in efforts nationwide to create more opportunities for men's volleyball players at both the high school and college levels.

4. St. John Fisher headlines the three opponents traveling in this weekend. The Cardinals are riding a six-match winning streak and receiving votes in the latest NVA/AVCA Division II national poll. Wittenberg has dropped six-straight, but the Tigers posted a 21-win season in 2019. Alderson Broaddus is looking to snap a 15-match losing streak.

5. The first win in Daemen's program history came Jan. 11, 2019 against Alderson Broaddus. The Wildcats rallied from a 2-1 deficit with wins in the fourth and fifth sets when the teams met as part of the Red Flash Invitational in Loretto, Pennsylvania. Jahari Winkfield (20 kills) and Jesse Donorovich (18 kills) combined for 38 kills, Jaden Gillette totaled 18 digs and Michael Krueger notched 47 assists for the Wildcats. Gillete's dig total and Krueger's assist total remain single-match records for Daemen's second-year program.

6. Friday's Daemen vs. Wittenberg match marks the second all-time meeting between the two teams. Wittenberg posted a 3-1 win when the teams met as part of the Juniata Invitational last January.

7. Daemen is also seeking their first-ever win over St. John Fisher. The Cardinals were 3-0 winners in their first-ever meeting with Daemen last March in Rochester.

8. Daemen was without outside hitter Zach Yerington and setter Michael Krueger in last Sunday's win over D'Youville. Both are expected to return to the lineup this weekend. Yerington leads the team in kills per set (2.90). Krueger is averaging 7.50 assists per set, and has posted at least 10 assists in all 26 matches he's appeared in during his career.

9. Daemen is holding opponents to a .219 hitting percentage this season. They are 16th in opponent hitting percentage in the Division I/II statistical rankings.

10. Zach Schneider is averaging 2.58 kills per set, and he leads the team with 31 kills. Fellow freshman Ryan Parker (25 kills, 1.92 kills per set) is also producing offensively for the Wildcats.

WITTENBERG SCOUTING REPORT

Wittenberg is a member of NCAA Division III and the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.
The Tigers are led by third-year head coach Ryan Thompson who has led the program to a 37-28 record in his tenure.
Thompson must cope with the loss of three All-AMCC players from their 2019 team, including first-team selections Isaiah Brock and Ashton Sellers. The Tigers finished the 2019 season with a 21-11 overall record and an 11-3 mark in AMCC play. They advanced to the AMCC Tournament finals where their season came to an end following a 3-1 loss to Thiel.
Wittenberg's 10-player roster includes six returning players. The group is headlines by senior outside hitter Jackson Tyler, sophomore opposite hitter Colin Buelow and senior setter Noah Wissel. Tyler contributed 2.32 kills per set last season, and Buelow wasn't far behind at 1.96 kills per set. Wissel totaled 465 assists and 128 digs.
Wittenberg was picked fourth (out of eight) in the AMCC preseason coaches' poll.
The Tigers opened 2020 with wins over Urbana and St. Norbert, but six-straight losses have followed. They are coming off a 3-0 neutral-site loss to Lakeland last Saturday.
Tyler (2.63 kills/set) has paced the Tigers' offense thus far, with additional production coming from Buelow (1.69 kills/set) and freshman middle blocker Dominic Melchiore (1.97 kills/set).
Wissel is averaging 7.43 assists per set and has totaled 223 of the team's 280 assists.

SERIES HISTORY VS. WITTENBERG
All-Time Series: 0-1
At Daemen: 0-1
Current Streak: Wittenberg won 1
Last Meeting: Wittenberg 3, Daemen 1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-18, 25-13) | Jan. 26, 2019 | at Huntingdon, Pa.

ST. JOHN FISHER SCOUTING REPORT

St. John Fisher is a member of NCAA Division III and the United Volleyball Conference.
The SJFC program, now in its third season, is led by head coach Kelly Greapentrog and associate head coach Stephen England. The duo has led the Cardinals to a 40-30 overall record to date. Following a 13-16 mark (and 1-8 in the UVC) in their inaugural season, SJFC turned in a 21-13 overall record and a 7-2 mark in UVC play last season.
The Cardinals return 12 players from their 2019 team, including Josh Bigford, a First Team All-UVC and UVC Rookie of the Year honoree. Bigford, a 6-foot-4 outside hitter, racked up 421 kills (3.54 kills/set) on a .273 hitting percentage last season. He ranked 18th among all Division III players in kills per set.
Middle blocker Matt Broderick (2.04 kills/set), setter Paul Hackford (9.58 assists/set), middle blocker Ivan Lopez (1.17 blocks/set) and defensive specialist David Cerqua (2.79 digs/set) also return.
The Cardinals were picked third (out of nine) in the UVC preseason coaches' poll.
SJFC rides a six-game winning streak into this weekend's action, results that have propelled them to receive votes in the latest NVA/AVCA Division III national poll. The Cardinals swept four matches last weekend at the SUNY Poly Wildcat Invitational, including tight 3-2 wins over Alvernia and Wentworth Tech.
Bigford has picked up where he left off, averaging 3.63 kills per set which ranks 29th nationally in Division III. Broderick is chipping in 2.22 kills per set.
Cerqua is averaging 4.00 digs per set, third-best in Division III and anchoring an SJFC defense that ranks ninth in team digs per set (12.4).

SERIES HISTORY VS. ST. JOHN FISHER
All-Time Series: 0-1
At Daemen: 0-0
Current Streak: St. John Fisher won 1
Last Meeting: St. John Fisher 3, Daemen 0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-16) | Mar. 30, 2019 | at Rochester, N.Y.

ALDERSON BROADDUS SCOUTING REPORT

Alderson Broaddus is an independent member of NCAA Division II.
The Battlers are led by second-year head coach Chuck Shoemaker.
A complete overhaul of the Alderson Broaddus roster followed last season's 0-13 campaign. The Battlers return just two players - sophomore outside/right-side hitter Eran Shifris and senior defensive specialist Chase Doyle. The team's eight newcomers include five freshman. Overall, the Battlers roster includes players from five different states and one foreign country, but just one player hails from their home state of West Virginia.
The Battlers head into this weekend seeking their first win of the season following losses to Geneva (3-0) and St. Andrews (3-0). Those results extended their losing streak to 15-straight matches.
Newcomers Jose Ramirez (2.00 kills/set), Ifeanyi Ukachukwu (1.67 kills/set) and Conrad Roszkowski (1.17 kills/set) have led the Battler offense thus far.

SERIES HISTORY VS. ALDERSON BROADDUS
All-Time Series: 1-0
At Daemen: 0-0
Current Streak: Daemen won 1
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Alderson Broaddus 2 (25-14, 26-28, 24-26, 26-24, 17-15) | Jan. 11, 2019 | at Loretto, Pa.

THE DAPPER DON
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 four seasons, helping them to a pair of NCAA tournament berths. In the men's inaugural season, Gleason guided a group entirely comprised of first-year college players to a 6-17 overall record. His first head coaching victory came in the program's first-ever match - a 3-2 defeat of Alderson Broaddus on Jan. 11 at the Red Flash Invitational hosted by St. Francis (Pa.).

COMPLIMENTS FROM A GIANT IN THE GAME
In a recent interview on The Jerry Sullivan Show (1270 The Fan), UCLA and U.S. Men's National Team coach John Speraw had some very complimentary things to about Daemen head coach Don Gleason. Speraw said, "He's really been incredibly thorough about everything in terms of how he's growing it, how he really worked hard at Daemen to make it happen, obviously now how he's going out recruiting... he's out working hard so I'm guessing they're going to be good quick. He's a good coach and he's working it."

STIFF TESTS
Daemen's first three regular season contests of 2020 came against some of the top programs in the country. In addition to hosting 19-time national champion and No. 2-ranked UCLA in their season opener, Daemen also welcomed 2019 national semifinalist Pepperdine (Jan. 14) and Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association fixture Harvard (Jan. 16) to Lumsden Gymnasium, all in the first three weeks of January. Pepperdine is the defending champion of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, and came in as the No. 8 ranked team in the AVCA Division I-II national poll. Harvard came in with six top-four finishes in the last eight seasons within the EIVA. In addition, Daemen will face Division I opponents Ball State (away, Feb. 8), St. Francis-Brooklyn (home, Mar. 7; away, Apr. 3) and St. Francis (Pa.) (away, Mar. 27) this season.

THE FRESHMAN EXPERIENCE
Competing in the program's inaugural season in 2019, Daemen fielded a nine-man roster comprised entirely of first-year college players. The Wildcats posted a 6-17 overall record in 2019. The first match in program history resulted in a win - a 3-2 defeat of Alderson Broaddus on Jan. 11. The Wildcats went on to add a pair of wins over crosstown rival Medaille, as well as single defeats of Lasell, D'Youville and Vassar. They closed the campaign by competing in the Independent Volleyball Association Tournament hosted by Lincoln Memorial in The Volunteer State. Eight players, including all six starters and the team's top libero, return to the mix in 2020.

WINK, WINK
Sophomore right-side/middle hitter Jahari Winkfield headlines Daemen's group of returners. The 6-foot-4 Illinois native led Daemen with 222 kills and 2.81 kills per set in 2019, and was the lone Wildcat to be named to the Off the Block All-Independent Team. Winkfield reached 10 kills in 10 matches last season, including three with 20 or more. He tallied a career-high 21 kills in a five-set loss to Misericordia.

ASSIST MAN
Sophomore setter Michael Krueger returns to the fold after handling the bulk of setting duties as a rookie in 2019. Krueger totaled 667 assists last season, good for an 8.04 assists-per-set average. He topped 40 assists in four matches last season, including a season-high 47 while making his collegiate debut in a 3-2 defeat of Alderson Broaddus. He also led the team in total digs (150) and digs per set (1.81), and ranked second on the team in service aces (19). Krueger notched three double-doubles in 2019, including 43 assists and 14 digs in a four-set win over D'Youville.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Sophomore defensive specialist Jaden Gillette totaled 134 digs and averaged 1.79 digs per set while appearing in all 23 matches in 2019. Those efforts have him being mentioned alongside some of the top defensive players in the country as he was recently named to Off the Block's Erik Shoji Award Watch List. The award is given annually to the top libero competing within NCAA Division I-II.

BOLSTERING THE ROSTER
The Wildcats' roster depth should be far greater in year two as head coach Don Gleason has added nine newcomers to the fold. Among the new faces is graduate transfer Zach Yerington, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound right-side hitter who helped Ohio State to national championships in 2016 and 2017. A Western New York native, Yerington was a two-time All-State player during his scholastic days at Hamburg High School.

LATE ADD
Daemen's 2020 roster was further bolstered with the addition of outside hitter Zach Schneider who inked a letter of intent in November. Schneider is a 6-foot-6 outside hitter who earned numerous accolades over the last several years while competing at Lockport High School in nearby Niagara County. Schneider was originally committed to defending national champion Long Beach State, but opted to re-open his recruitment during the fall semester, ultimately landing here with the Wildcats.

NEXT SERVE
The Wildcats head west for a trio of matches next weekend. They'll visit Ball State for a Friday (Feb. 8) night contest, followed by Saturday (Feb. 9) afternoon affairs against Urbana and Lincoln Memorial.

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