AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College men's volleyball student-athletes Zach Yerington (Hamburg, N.Y.) and Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) have been named the 2020 Off the Block/Frisco Mo All-Independent Team.
The All-Independent Team recognizes the best players during the regular season from National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-II men's volleyball teams that are competing without a conference affiliation. The seven independent teams this season were Daemen, Alderson Broaddus University, Lincoln Memorial University, St. Francis College—Brooklyn, Tusculum University, Queens University of Charlotte and Urbana University.
It marks the third year that Off The Block has presented an All-Independent Team. Yerington and Schneider join teammate Jahari Winkfield (Oswego, Ill.), a 2019 selection, as Daemen players to earn the honor within the program's first two seasons. Lincoln Memorial led all schools with four selections this year, while both Daemen and Urbana had multiple players make the team. Head coaches from the NCAA Division I-II men's volleyball teams comprised the voting committee for this award.
Yerington, a graduate student transfer who plays the opposite hitter position, led the Wildcats in kills per set (3.25) and ranked second in total kills (185) this season. He also totaled 71 digs and 27 blocks.
He registered double-digits in kills nine times this year. The highlight of his season came on February 9 when he led Daemen to a five-set win over nationally-ranked Lincoln Memorial University by putting down 36 kills—a total that ranked as the most for any Division I/II player in the country this season. That effort earned him Independent Team Player of the Week and National Opposite of the Week honors from Off the Block. He also totaled 18 kills in a 3-2 win over nationally-ranked Wells College on Feb. 14 and capped the season with 28 kills and 17 digs during wins over Urbana and St. Francis Brooklyn the weekend of March 6-7. His performance against Urbana and St. Francis Brooklyn earned Yerington his second Independent Teams Player of the Week honor from Off The Block.
Schneider, a freshman outside hitter, is one of four freshmen named to the All-Independent Team. He led the Wildcats in total kills (196) and ranked second to Yerington in kills per set (3.16). He also led the team in service aces (23) and total digs (95) and ranked second in total blocks (30).
He registered double-digits in kills a team-high 12 times this year. He posted a season-high 19 kills with just one attack error during a 3-1 win at Urbana on Feb. 9 and followed up with 14 kills and four aces in the upset win over Lincoln Memorial later that day. Just five days later he would help the Wildcats go undefeated during the Wells Classic Tournament by posting 37 kills during wins over Wells and Penn State Altoona.
Daemen posted a seven-match winning streak during the year and won 12 of its first 19 matches before the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 12 wins were twice as many as the team posted in its inaugural season last year, when the Wildcats finished 6-17.
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