BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. – The Daemen College men's volleyball team capped an undefeated season this afternoon following a 3-1 victory (26-28, 25-23, 25-14, 25-12) over host St. Francis Brooklyn College. The Wildcats, who have now won 12-straight matches dating back to the end of the 2020 season, closed out the pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign with a record of 10-0. Daemen remains one of only two unbeaten teams across the NCAA Division I/II ranks—joining the No. 1 ranked team in the country, Hawaii (10-0). Hawaii will look to remain unbeaten when it takes on seventh-ranked Long Beach State University this evening.

Today's win, which comes less than 24 hours after the Wildcats posted a 3-1 win over SFBC last night, completes the weekend sweep of the Division I Terriers. The win marked the third against a Division I opponent in the three-year history of Daemen's program. All three have come against the SFBC Terriers.

The Terriers, who just opened their 2021 season Tuesday by splitting a pair of matches with Sacred Heart University, dropped to 1-3. The SFBC program is in just its second season of existence.

The first set set the tone for the rest of the match. The teams battled back and forth with neither team leading by more than two points. The set featured 21 ties and 10 lead changes. Daemen took a 26-25 lead following a kill by sophomore Jake Couzens (Hamburg, N.Y.), but SFBC took advantage of a service error and back-to-back attack errors by Daemen to close out the 28-26 win.

Another back-and-forth affair followed in set two, as the teams combined for 16 ties and six lead changes. Once again, neither team led by more than two points throughout the set. The Terriers took a 22-20 lead following a kill by sophomore James Henneberry, but Daemen regrouped following a time out and tied the set at 22-22 following a kill by sophomore Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) and a SFBC attack error. The hosts regained a 23-22 lead following a kill by sophomore David Vorfi, but the Wildcats closed out the 25-23 win following three-straight kills by senior Robert Patzer (Liverpool, N.Y.).

The teams appeared to be headed for another back-and-forth affair in set three, but the Wildcats used a 9-2 run to turn a 10-8 lead into a 19-10 lead. Daemen later took a double-digit lead, 23-13, following a kill by Patzer and went on to a 25-14 victory.

Daemen scored the first seven points in set four and the visitors later took a 13-3 lead following a service ace by Schneider. The lead eventually grew to 13 points 21-8 following back-to-back kills by sophomore Parker Wade (Portland, Ore.) and the Wildcats secured the set and the match with a 25-12 victory.

IMPACT PLAYERS

• Daemen posted 56 kills during the match and Schneider led the way with 17. He also posted a team-high three service aces and added two blocks and four digs.
• Patzer added 12 kills and six digs, while Couzens contributed eight kills with zero attack errors and a career-high six total blocks.
• Sophomore Ryan Parker (Fairport, N.Y.) capped off a solid weekend with seven kills and six digs. He totaled a career-high 14 kills in yesterday's win over SFBC.
• Junior setter Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) dished out 43 assists and also added six digs and four blocks.
• Vorfi accounted for 17 of SFBC's 43 kills. Freshman Aramis Rodriguez added eight kills and a team-high 12 digs, while sophomore setter Andrew Piloto recorded 32 assists for the Terriers.

MATCH NOTES

• 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 final 10 matches were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• The Wildcats current 12-match winning streak surpasses the prior program record of seven consecutive wins set last season. All seven wins came during the month of February (2020). Daemen has won 19 of its last 21 matches.
• Only one of Daemen's 10 matches this season went a full five sets. That was a 3-2 win over nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College on March 6.
• Schneider finished as the team leader in kills for the second-straight year despite playing in only eight of 10 matches. He posted 83 kills this season and has totaled 179 over his two-year career. Patzer, who transferred to Daemen after playing three seasons at Wells College, finished second on the team in kills (81) in his first season with the program.
• Krueger led the team in assists for the third-straight year. He totaled 237 this season and has racked up 1,360 assists over his three-year career.
• Parker posted a team-high 55 digs this year, while Couzens led the team in total blocks (31).

NEXT SERVE
Today's result marked the regular-season finale for Daemen. The Wildcats are eligible for an at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship tournament, which will take place May 6-8 on the campus of The Ohio State University.

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 teams. To learn more, visit daemenwildcats.com/gameon.