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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
krueger mvb vs harvard
Michael Krueger (3) returned to the lineup today and recorded a team-high 29 assists to help Daemen past Wittenberg
1
Wittenberg WITT 2-8
3
Winner Daemen DAEMEN 2-3
Wittenberg WITT
2-8
1
Final
3
Daemen DAEMEN
2-3
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Wittenberg WITT 23 25 14 18 (1)
Daemen DAEMEN 25 23 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball | | By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Schneider Leads Wildcats Over Wittenberg

Freshman Outside Hitter Powers Down 14 Kills

AMHERST, N.Y. - Freshman outside hitter Zach Schneider (Lockport N.Y.) continued his solid rookie season, leading the Daemen College men's volleyball team to a 3-1 win (25-23, 23-25, 25-14, 25-18) over visiting Wittenberg University tonight at Lumsden Gymnasium. The match was the second of five to be played at Lumsden Gymnasium this weekend. Wittenberg fell in four sets (25-16, 25-14, 24-26, 25-19) to fellow NCAA Division III member St. John Fisher College in today's opening match.

Daemen has now won two-straight matches, improving to 2-3 on the season. The Wildcats defeated crosstown rival D'Youville College (3-0) last Sunday, shaking off the sting of losses to Division I powers UCLA, Pepperdine University and Harvard University to start just the season season in program history.

Wittenberg dropped to 2-8 on the season following their two losses tonight.

TOP PERFORMERS
  • Schneider led the way with a season-high 14 kills to go with nine digs, narrowly missing a third-straight double-double. The Lockport High School product attacked at a .520 clip in the match, and added a pair of service aces to his stat line.
  • Graduate student Zach Yerington (Hamburg, N.Y.) and sophomore setter Michael Krueger (Canansburg, Pa.) both returned to lineup after missing Sunday's match at D'Youville. Yerington totaled eight kills and Krueger posted 29 assists.
  • Middle hitters Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) and Jahari Winkfield (Oswego, Ill.) came off the bench to provide a spark. The duo combined for eight kills on 12 swings over, all over the final two sets, and provided solid defense at the net.
  • Collin Buelow (13 kills) and Jackson Tyler (10 kills) paced the Wittenberg offense with setter Noah Wissel racking up a match-high 35 assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Daemen jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the opening set, but an undaunted Wittenberg squad roared back to take a 13-11 lead. Following a Daemen timeout, the Wildcats responded with four-straight points, including kills by Schneider and fellow freshman Jake Couzens (Hamburg, N.Y.). The teams went back and forth from there, and Wittenberg eventually evened the count at 22-22. Couzens and Schneider again came up big for Daemen, scoring back-to-back kills to put Daemen within a point of closing the set. After a bad Daemen set gave a point to the Tigers, Schneider came back and ended the set with a kill.
  • Wittenberg was able to even the match thanks to 18 kills and a .538 hitting percentage in the second set. Daemen's only lead in the set came early at 4-3, but the Wildcats made the Tigers breathe heavy late. Wittenberg led 24-20 following a kill by James Trowbridge, but Daemen got back in it with three-straight points (one kill, two service aces) courtesy of Jesse Donorovich (Lockport, N.Y.). The tying point never came however as Tyler powered down a kill to end the set for Wittenberg.
  • The emergence of Moffitt and Winkfield paid dividends for Daemen over the final two sets. Wittenberg, which had totaled 28 kills in the first two sets, was held to just 12 and a -.130 hitting percentage over the remainder of the match. 
  • Daemen jumped out to 10-5 lead in the third and never looked back. The Wildcats put down 10 kills on a .500 hitting percentage, and were aided by 11 Wittenberg hitting errors in the set.
  • The fourth set started out as a back-and-forth affair until Daemen embarked on a 7-2 run, turning a 10-10 tie into a 17-12 advantage. Wittenberg committed five hitting errors in the run, and Daemen got kills from Yerington and Ryan Parker (Fairport, N.Y.) as well. The Tigers pulled within 19-16, but Daemen scored six of the next eight points to close the set and the match. Moffitt notched a pair of late kills, and Schneider ended things with an ace.
  • The teams finished close in kills overall (Daemen 41, Wittenberg 40), but the Wildcats were the far more efficient team. Daemen hit .277 in the match, compared to just .143 for the Tigers. Wittenberg committed 25 hitting errors and 22 service errors.

NEXT SERVE
The Daemen quint-match concludes tomorrow with a trio of matches at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats face 7-1 St. John Fisher to start the day (12 p.m.), followed by Wittenberg battling Alderson Broaddus University at 2 p.m. The event's capper features Daemen taking on Alderson Broaddus at 4 p.m.
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