Gavin Musielak and Daemen men's volleyball remain unbeaten with five-set victory at St. John Fisher Saturday.

Wildcats Hold Off Cardinals In Five-Set Showdown

Daemen wins fourth straight to start 2021 campaign

3/6/2021 8:10:00 PM

By: By Joe Kraus, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Box Score ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Another day, another victory.

After a four-set victory against Medaille the night before, Daemen men's volleyball continued their winning ways with a tight finish out in the '585' Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats defeated St. John Fisher College in five sets (22-25, 25-15, 25-17, 27-29, 15-8) in a contest held at the Manning and Napier Varsity Gym.

With the victory, Daemen moves to 4-0 this season, continuing the best start in the brief three-year history of the program. Three of the four victories have come on the road. The Wildcats also secured their first-ever win against the Cardinals in a series that began on March 30, 2019 (St. John Fisher leads series, 2-1.) The Wildcats totaled 59 kills, eight service aces and had a .242 hitting percentage in the contest, and the program has now won 13 of their last 15 matches dating back to last season.

NCAA Division III and United Volleyball Conference affiliate St. John Fisher dropped to 0-1 this season after playing their first match in 360 days. The Cardinals are ranked eighth in the National Volleyball Association/American Volleyball Coaches Association (NVA/AVCA) Division III coaches poll.

IMPACT PLAYERS

Sophomore outside Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) led the Daemen offense with a career-high 20 kills and four service aces along with nine digs.
Senior opposite Robert Patzer (Liverpool, N.Y.) finished with a season-high 18 kills and eight digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Ryan Parker (Fairport, N.Y.) finished with 11 kills, a team-high 12 digs and three blocks.
Junior setter Michael Krueger (Canonsberg, Pa.) recorded a season-high 50 assists for the Wildcats along with four digs and three blocks. It marked the third time in Krueger's career that he has posted 50 assists or more, finishing four shy of his career-high which came in a five-set victory over Lincoln Memorial last season.
Sophomore middle hitter Jake Couzens (Hamburg, N.Y.) chipped in seven kills, had a team-high in hitting percentage (.462) and tied freshman Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) in team blocks (4).
Josh Bigford paced the Cardinals with 11 kills while teammate Paul Hackford led with 34 assists.

SET-BY-SET SUMMARY
Set One (St. John Fisher 25, Daemen 22) – Both teams kept pace with each other through the early stages of the set before the Cardinals took a 12-11 lead. Daemen then responded with a three-point run for a 14-12 lead, prompting a Cardinals timeout. A kill from Patzer later extended Daemen's lead to 18-16 before Fisher rattled off three straight points to move back in front, 19-18. Daemen tied the score three more times, the latest at 21 apiece, before the Cardinals ended the set on a 4-1 run.

Set Two (Daemen 25, St. John Fisher 15) – With the score tied at 2, Daemen went on a set-changing 8-1 run to lead 10-3 highlighted by three consecutive serving aces from Schneider. While the Cardinals, at one point, cut the deficit to seven points (17-10), the Wildcats kept control and outscored their opponent, 8-5, with kills coming from Patzer and Parker down the stretch.

Set Three (Daemen 25, St. John Fisher 17) – Daemen jumped out to an 8-2 lead to start the set and later expanded their lead to 17-9. The Cardinals got within five points (17-12) before kills from Schneider, Patzer, Parker and Couzens and a couple serving errors from the Cardinals helped Daemen finish on an 8-5 stretch and take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Set Four (St. John Fisher 29, Daemen 27) – While Daemen briefly cut the deficit to four points (10-6), Fisher went back into the driver's seat by controlling the pace of the set and building a 20-14 lead. A kill from Parker gave the Wildcats some life and started a run to bring them within three points (20-17). Moments later, a pair of kills from Schneider tied the score at 21. But after six ties and lead changes, Fisher finally ended the set thanks to a Bigford kill and two attacking errors on Daemen to force a fifth and final set.

Set Five (Daemen 15, St. John Fisher 8) – Daemen jumped out to a 4-1 lead before Fisher responded with a 3-1 stretch to make this a one-point set (5-4). Fisher cut Daemen's down to two points on four occasions later in the set, the latest point at 9-7. But Daemen didn't waver as a 6-1 run, capped off by Schneider's kill for match point, sealed their fourth straight win of the season.

MATCH NOTES

Today's match was the fourth of 12 presently on Daemen's 2021 schedule to be played between February 20 and April 3. The schedule was developed with the health and safety of the team's Tier 1 personnel in mind. The NCAA defines Tier 1 personnel as all student-athletes, coaches, managers, athletic trainers and other support staff. The team's Tier 1 personnel will undergo regular COVID-19 surveillance testing in accordance with NCAA guidelines. Daemen's match schedule is of course subject to change. A positive result during surveillance testing for Daemen or an opponent may result in game postponements and/or cancellations. Additional matches may be added throughout the season depending upon each program's unique circumstances.
Daemen's program is in its third season of existence. After posting a 6-17 overall record in their inaugural 2019 season, the Wildcats doubled their win total in 2020, finishing 12-7 overall before the start of the pandemic. The 2020 season included home matches against high profile opponents like UCLA, Pepperdine and Harvard, as well as a seven-match winning streak covering more than three weeks in February.
Daemen is now 4-6 all-time in five-set matches. It was Daemen's first five-set match since a loss to Wells on Feb. 29, 2020. The Wildcats have won three of their last five matches that have gone the distance.
Daemen has taken 12 of 15 sets played this season and is 37-15 in sets over their last 13 matches dating back to last season.
Daemen was ranked second in the Off the Block Independent Teams Preseason Poll which was released in late December.
The Wildcats return 13 players who have been with the program for at least a year, including four juniors who came in with the program's inception.

NEXT SERVE
The Wildcats are idle until Sunday, March 14 when they take a trip to Elmira to face the Soaring Eagles for a two-match series starting at 1 p.m. Daemen downed Elmira in straight sets at Lumsden Gymnasium on Feb. 26.

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Support Daemen College's return to intercollegiate athletic competitions by making a contribution to the Game On Campaign and the Daemen Wildcats Gotta Play Fund. This comprehensive fundraising campaign was established to help offset the loss of valuable external revenue streams that directly support Daemen's 17 varsity programs. To learn more, visit daemenwildcats.com/gameon.

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