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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
krueger mvb vs sfb
Geoff Schneider
1
Daemen DAEMEN 10-3
3
Winner Loyola Chicago LUCMVB 12-6 (6-1 MIVA)
Daemen DAEMEN
10-3
1
Final
3
Loyola Chicago LUCMVB
12-6 (6-1 MIVA)
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Daemen DAEMEN 25 15 28 21 (1)
Loyola Chicago LUCMVB 21 25 30 25 (3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball | | CONTACT: Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications | (716) 839-8385 | mmiranto@daemen.edu

Wildcats Go Toe-To-Toe With #11 Ramblers

CHICAGO, Ill. – Bidding for their first-ever victory against a member fo the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, the Daemen men's volleyball team didn't get the result but surely opened some eyes by hanging tough a 3-1 loss (25-21, 15-25, 28-30, 21-25) to nationally-ranked Loyola Chicago this afternoon at Gentile Arena. 

Loyola extended its winning streak to four straight matches and improved to 12-6 this season. The Ramblers are ranked No. 11 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I-II Poll. 

The loss snapped Daemen's eight-match winning streak, the first taste of the defeat for the Wildcats since January 29 (3-2 vs. St. Francis Brooklyn). The Wildcats dropped to 10-3 overall. 

The Ramblers put down 17 kills but committed 10 hitting errors as Daemen took the opening set. The Wildcats tallied 11 kills with just a single hitting error (.357 hitting percentage) and out-blocked (4.5-0) and out-aced (3-0) the hosts in the opening frame.

Loyola came back stronger in the second, increasing their sideout percentage from 63% to 80%. The Ramblers put down another 15 kills while limiting Daemen to just eight in a 10-point set victory.

Back on solid footing, the Ramblers appeared poised to cruise through the rest of the match, but Daemen did not appease. The Wildcats used a 7-3 spurt to turn a 14-14 tie into a 21-17 advantage - the widest gap of the set for either team. A kill by junior middle Jake Couzens (Hamburg, N.Y.) gave Daemen a 24-22 lead, putting them on the doorstep of 2-1 lead in the match. Loyola responded with three straight scores, including kills by Parker Van Buren and Andrew Lyons, sending the set to extra points. The Wildcats went on to fend off four set points, all via kills, until the Ramblers managed to score back-to-back. Van Buren, who was the star of stars today, posted consecutive kills to deliver the set for the Ramblers.

The fourth set featured 12 ties as the teams split the first 32 points. Loyola scored the next four points, taking a 20-16 lead and prompting a Daemen timeout. In catch-up mode, Daemen pulled within 21-18 and 24-21, but got no closer. 

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Van Buren, a 6-foot-9 redshirt freshman outside hitter, was unstoppable and finished with a career-high 31 kills and a .521 hitting percentage. He added nine digs and three service aces.  
  • Cole Scholhauer (16 kills, 10 digs) and Garrett Zolg (match-highs of 53 assists and 12 digs) each recorded double-doubles for the Ramblers.
  • Western New York native Henry Payne (Clarence Center, N.Y.) contributed eight kills and five digs to the Loyola cause. 
  • Five Daemen players recorded at least eight kills, led by graduate student Robert Patzer (Liverpool, N.Y.) who finished with 14 (on a .440 hitting percentage).
  • Junior outside hitter Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) recorded his second double-double of the season and the fourth of his career, finishing with 10 kills and a team-high 10 digs. 
  • Senior middle Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) tallied nine kills while Couzens and Ryan Parker (Fairport, N.Y.) notched eight apiece.
  • Senior setter Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) totaled 40 assists and a team-high two service aces. 

GAME NOTES
  • Daemen competes as an independent member of NCAA Division I-II. The program is in its fourth season of existence. 
  • The Wildcats return 12 players from their 2021 team which finished with a 10-0 record - the only NCAA Division I-II team without a loss. 
  • Today's match was just the second against a MIVA member in Daemen's program history. Their only prior contest was a 3-0 loss to Ball State on February 8, 2020.
  • Loyola Chicago is the first Daemen opponent to be ranked in the AVCA Division I-II Poll since the Wildcats played UCLA (Jan. 2, 2020) and Pepperdine (Jan. 14, 2020) early in the 2020 season (both 3-0 losses). 
  • Daemen entered the match ranked No. 7 in the Off The Block Division II Coaches Poll. The Wildcats have been included in that poll for seven straight weeks.
  • Daemen is now 2-3 against Division I opponents this season. They own victories over Princeton and LIU, while earlier losses came against Sacred Heart and St. Francis Brooklyn.
  • Daemen is now 29-5 dating back to mid-February 2020. Three of the five losses have come against Division I opponents. 

UP NEXT
Daemen's Midwest road trip continues Monday (March 13) evening when they'll face a Benedictine (8-5) team that is receiving votes in the AVCA Division III Coaches Poll. 

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.

Follow the Daemen College men's volleyball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenMVB.
 
 
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