AMHERST, N.Y. - Freshman Zach Schneider (Lockport N.Y.) and graduate student Zach Yerington (Hamburg, N.Y.) accounted for 29 of the team's 42 kills, as the Daemen College men's volleyball team posted a 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 32-30) victory over St. Francis College—Brooklyn today at Lumsden Gymnasium.

Daemen, a NCAA Division II independent, has now won 12 of its last 16 matches and improved to 12-7 overall. St. Francis-Brooklyn is a NCAA Division I independent and is in its first season as a varsity program. The Terriers, who posted a 3-1 win over Urbana University at Lumsden Gym earlier today, dropped to 5-10 on the year.

Today's win marked Daemen's first ever victory over a NCAA Division I program. The Wildcats entered the day 0-4 this season and 0-5 all-time against Division I opponents.

IMPACT PLAYERS

• Schneider led the Wildcats in kills (15) and total attempts (28) and also contributed seven digs and a team-high four service aces.
• Yerington posted 14 kills and 25 attempts and a .400 hitting percentage. He also racked up a team-high tied nine digs—which equaled his season high he registered during a 3-2 win at Wells College last month.
• Freshman John Jaworski (Naperville, Ill.) added five kills, two aces and four digs, while sophomore Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) also posted five kills and a team-high five blocks.
• Sophomore Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) posted a team-high 36 assists, while sophomore Ryan Beck (Pittsburgh, Pa.) registered five digs.
• Freshman Johnny Ferraro posted a team-high nine kills for the Terriers, while classmate Bartlomiej Zielinski added eight kills, two blocks and four digs. Junior Derrick Truong dished out a team-high 23 assists and also posted a team-high eight digs for the visitors.
  

SET-BY-SET SUMMARY

Set One (DC 25, SFB 20) - Daemen held a 12-9 lead when the Wildcats took control with a 9-3 run. St. Francis-Brooklyn scored five of the next six points to cut the lead to five points (22-17), but a service error by the Terriers made the score 23-17 and the visitors came no closer than four points (24-20) after that.

Set Two (DC 25, SFB 16) - Set two was a tied at 14-14 when the Wildcats scored four of the next five points to take an 18-15 lead. The Terriers cut the lead to two points (18-16) following a Daemen service error, but the Wildcats closed out the set with seven unanswered points. Schneider had two kills and two aces during the set-ending run.

Set Three (DC 32, SFB 30) - Set three featured eight ties early on before the Wildcats put together a 6-1 run to take an 18-13 lead. The Daemen lead was 21-16 when the Terriers put together a late rally and eventually tied the set at 24-24. The Terriers had set point at 28-27, but the Wildcats got a kill from Yerington and service ace by Jaworski to take a 29-28 lead. The teams then traded points and the set was tied at 30-30 when Daemen secured the match following back-to-back errors by the Terriers.

MATCH NOTES

• Daemen has already posted more wins this season than it did in its inaguarlai season last year. The Wildcats fielded a roster entirely of first-year college players last spring and closed out the year with a 6-17 record.
• 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.
• Schneider posted double-digit kills for the 12th time this season, while Yerington reached double digits in kills for the ninth time.
  

NEXT SERVE
Daemen is idle until March 21 when it takes part in a tri-match hosted by Elmira College.