• Urbana is an independent member of NCAA Division II. The program is in its inaugural season. 
• The Blue Knights are led by head coach Andrew Palmer. The Illinois native spent the 2019 season as an assistant and interim head coach at Division III Aurora where he helped the Spartans to a 12-14 record in their inaugural season. 
• The first-year program has posted a 1-16 record so far this season. Urbana got the first win in their program history on Feb. 16 when they defeated Alderson Broaddus 3-0. Among the results are setbacks against Ohio State (3-0), No. 7 Lewis (3-0), No. 15 Loyola (3-0) and No. 9 St. Xavier (3-1).
• The Blue Knights are coming off a 3-2 loss to Tusculum on Feb. 22. It was their second five-set loss of the season. 
• Freshman outside hitter Tyler Chavez is pacing the Urbana attackers, averaging 2.96 kills per set. He has registered 10+ kills in four of the last five matches, including a season-high 26 in the loss to Tusculum.
• Additional offensive production is coming from Jack Brinkman (2.71 kills/set), Sam Hargett (2.29 kills/set) and Chaz Hafer (8.24 assists/set). 

SERIES HISTORY VS. URBANA
All-Time Series: Daemen 1-0
At Daemen: 0-0
Streak: Daemen won 1
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Urbana 1 | Feb. 9, 2020 | at Urbana, Ohio


ST. FRANCIS-BROOKLYN SCOUTING REPORT

• St. Francis-Brooklyn is an independent member of NCAA Division I. The program is in its inaugural season. 
• St. Francis-Brooklyn is an independent member of NCAA Division I. The program is in its inaugural season. 
• he Terriers are led by first-year head coach Niko Lambert, a former student-athlete at Stevens Institute of Technology.
• Lambert has guided the Terriers to a 4-9 record so far this season. The first win in program history came in just their second match - a 3-0 triumph over Division III Baruch. The Terriers have added wins over Elms (3-2), New Jersey City (3-1) and St. Joseph's-Long Island (3-1). They are coming off a 3-0 loss to Stevens last Sunday.
• Freshman opposite hitter David Vorfi has made an immediate impact for the Terriers, averaging 3.47 kills per set. He has missed the last seven matches however. 
• In Vorfi's absence, the Terriers have turned to freshman middle hitter James Henneberry (2.22 kills/set) and freshman outside hitter Johnny Ferraro (2.13 kills/set) to lead their offense.
• Freshman setter Andrew Piloto is contributing 8.70 assists per set. 

SERIES HISTORY VS. ST. FRANCIS-BROOKLYN
All-Time Series: 0-0
At Daemen: 0-0
Streak: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A

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.

ZACH ATTACK
The 2020 roster features nine newcomers, headlined by the addition of graduate transfer Zach Yerington and freshman Zach Schneider. Yerington, a 6-foot-5 right-side hitter, helped Ohio State to national championships in 2016 and 2017. Schneider, a 6-foot-6 outsider hitter, 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. The two have paced an offense that is averaging 11.4 kills per set. Yerington set a new program record for kills in a match (36) during a Feb. 9 win over Lincoln Memorial and is averaging a team-high 3.33 kills per set. The 36 kills against LMU rank as the most by an NCAA Division I/II player so far this season. Schneider has posted 10+ kills in nine matches this season, including two with a season-high 19 (Feb. 9 vs. Urbana; Feb. 15 vs. Penn State Altoona). He's averaging 3.21 kills per set and leads the team in total kills (154) and service aces (17). 

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. This season, he ranks fourth on the team in total kills (54) this year and leads in total blocks (29).

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. Thsi season, he's contributing 8.25 assists and a team-high 1.64 digs per set. He has posted career-highs for both assists (54) and digs (18) in the win over Lincoln Memorial. Krueger registered the 1,000th assist of his career during Daemen's 3-0 defeat of Elmira on Feb. 23. 

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.

GOING STREAKING
Daemen won seven consecutive matches - the longest streak in the brief two-year history of the program - from Feb. 9-23. The streak began with a 3-0 pasting of fellow Division II program Alderson Broaddus on Feb. 1. The Wildcats set new team benchmarks for hitting percentage (.634) and hitting percentage allowed (-.074) in the win. The streak has included thrilling 3-2 victories over Lincoln Memorial, the defending Independent Volleyball Association champs, as well as Wells, a nationally ranked Division III team. 

NEXT SERVE
The Wildcats head to the Elmira Tri-Match on Saturday, March 21 where they'll face Elms and Elmira.