Men's Volleyball Looks To Rebound Tonight At Benedictine

Wildcats Face 2021 Division III National Runner-Up Eagles

3/14/2022 11:30:00 AM

Match #14
Daemen Wildcats (10-3) vs. Benedictine Eagles (8-6, 4-1 NACC)
Monday, Mar. 14 | 7 p.m. (CST) | Dan & Ada Rice Center

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1. MIDWEST MANIA
The Daemen men's volleyball team continues its week-long, Midwestern road trip Monday evening when facing 2021 NCAA Division III national runner-up Benedictine. It marks the second of four matches on the trip which began yesterday with a 3-1 loss to highly-touted Loyola Chicago of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. The loss snapped Daemen's eight-match winning streak and moved them to 2-3 against Division I opponents this season. It also marked Daemen's first match against a nationally-ranked Division I opponent since facing Pepperdine early in the 2020 campaign (Loyola ranked No. 11 in AVCA Division I-II Poll).

2. GOING STREAKING
Daemen enters Monday's match having won 17 straight matches against Division II and III opponents. That streak was extended with a 3-1 defeat of Western New York rival D'Youville on March 2, a match that closed Daemen's nine-match home stand - the longest in program history. Daemen's last loss to a Division II or III opponent came on February 29, 2020 when they dropped both matches of a doubleheader against Wells (both by 3-2 finals).

3. COMING OF AGE
The Daemen men's volleyball program is in its fourth season of existence. Led by head coach Don Gleason, the Wildcats have gradually worked their way to respectability. After going 6-17 in their inaugural campaign (2019), the Wildcats posted a 12-7 mark in 2020, winning nine of 11 matches through February and March before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of the final 10 matches of the season. In 2021, with the pandemic still very much raging, the Wildcats conducted a season without ever leaving New York State and finished 10-0 - the only NCAA Division I-II team without a loss. Add in the Wildcats' 10-3 start in 2022, and they've won 29 of their last 34 matches (dating back to February 2020). Their recent success has propelled them into the national conversation. Daemen is ranked seventh in the Off The Block Division II Coaches Poll, marking the seventh straight week they've been included in the poll.

4. BIG MATCH BOB
Graduate student Robert Patzer has been used in a variety of ways this season, spending time as a setter and also as a hitter on the pin. The Central New York native posted a team-high 14 kills in Sunday's loss at Loyola Chicago - his third match this season in double figures. Patzer is tied for third on the team with 81 kills and is producing 1.88 kills per set. Discounting the matches that he played setter, his kills per set average jumps to 2.95.

5. WHAT'S NEXT
Daemen's Midwest road trip continues Thursday (March 17) evening when they face MIVA member Purdue Fort Wayne.

BENEDICTINE SCOUTING REPORT
The Benedictine Eagles are members of NCAA Division III and the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference. The Eagles are led by second-year head coach Christian Staple who led the program to a 16-4 overall record, an unblemished run (11-0) through NACC play and a runner-up finish at the NCAA Division III National Championships last season. The Eagles return 11 players from their 2021 team, including All-Americans Chase Olson and Jacon Grygo.

The Eagles are off to an 8-6 start this season and are receiving votes in the AVCA Division III Coaches Poll. They are coming off a 3-1 loss to No. 1 Dominican (Ill.) this past Saturday afternoon.

Grygo, a senior setter/right side, is leading the way offensively. Despite missing some time early in the season, Grygo is producing a team-high 2.96 kills per set and is attacking at a .329 clip. He was the lone Benedictine player to produce double-figure kills in the loss to Dominican, finishing with 13.

Four other players are averaging at least 2.0 kills per set for the balanced Eagle offense. Nathan Klimisch (2.60), Martin Radomski (2.55) and the afore-mentioned Olson (2.28) have all surpassed 100 kills on the season, while Logan Fuglestad (2.16) has posted 97. Senior setter Sanchit Khaitan, one of five newcomers on the roster, is contributing 6.71 assists per set.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. BENEDICTINE
Series Record: 0-0
At Benedictine: 0-0
Current Streak: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A

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