Wildcats Open Stretch Run At Red Flash

3/31/2022 1:30:00 PM

Match #18
Daemen Wildcats (13-4) vs. St. Francis (Pa.) Red Flash (12-10, 6-6 EIVA)
Friday, Apr. 1 | 7 p.m. | Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arena

Watch (NEC Front Row)
Live Stats

1. HELLO APRIL
The Daemen men's volleyball team opens the final month of the 2022 season by traveling to The Keystone State where Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association member St. Francis awaits for a Friday night clash. It's the first of five matches in the month of April for the Wildcats - three of which will be played at the Independent Volleyball Association Tournament hosted by Queens (N.C.). Friday's match also marks the second all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Red Flash. SFU earned a 3-0 win in the only prior meeting which was the second match of Daemen's inaugural season (2019). The teams were slated to open the 2022 season against one another in Western New York, but that match was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.

2. DAEMEN VS. D1'S
Daemen is coming off a 3-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson this past weekend - the team's 13th win of the season which sets a new program record. Jake Couzens recorded a match-high eight kills on as many attempts; Zach Schneider posted a team-high 11.5 points; and Michael Krueger notched 25 assists and four service aces in the win - Daemen's third in seven matches against Division I opponents this season. The Wildcats have more than held their own against their Division I counterparts this season. Daemen downed Princeton in a five-set match on Jan. 23 - the program's first-ever win against an EIVA member. Three of Daemen's four losses to Division I opponents have been five-set affairs: at Sacred Heart (Jan. 22), vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (Jan. 29) and at Purdue Fort Wayne (Mar. 17). After losing the program's first five matches against Division I teams, the Wildcats are 6-4 in their last 10 dating back to March 2020.

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' 13-4 start in 2022, and they've won 32 of their last 38 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 10th straight week they've been included in the poll.

4. COMING UP ACES
Daemen is averaging 2.28 service aces per set which ranks first among all Division I-II teams this season. Four players - Zach Schneider (0.52 sa/set), Jake Couzens (0.45 sa/set), Cameron Milligan (0.41 sa/set) and Ryan Parker (0.40 sa/set) - rank in the top 30 nationally for service aces per set. Daemen has posted 10+ aces in seven matches, including a season-high 12 in wins aver American International, Medaille and St. John Fisher.

4. ZACH ATTACK
Junior outside hitter Zach Schneider has paced the Daemen offense by averaging 3.30 kills per set this season. Schneider has posted 10 or more kills in 11 matches, including a season-high 22 in a five-set loss to Sacred Heart on January 22. He recently totaled 21 kills in a win over Mount Union, breaking his own program record for kills in a four-set match. Schneider, who originally committed to Long Beach State before settling at Daemen (less than 20 miles from his hometown of Lockport, NY), also leads the Wildcats in service aces (29) and his 231.0 total points are nearly 70 more than anyone else on the roster. In per-set averages among the national leaders, Schneider ranks ninth in service aces (0.52) and 32nd in kills, while also ranking 41st in hitting percentage (.300). Already the program's all-time leader in kills, Schneider is closing in on 500 for his career. He has appeared in 41 matches while totaling 464 kills, 71 service aces, 206 digs and 70 blocks.

5. WHAT'S NEXT
Daemen is idle until Saturday, April 16 when they'll renew their Western New York rivalry with D'Youville in a 1 p.m. match at the College Center Gymnasium.

ST. FRANCIS SCOUTING REPORT
The St. Francis Red Flash are members of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association and are led by veteran head coach Mike Rumbaugh. Now in his 23rd season at the helm, Rumbaugh has led the Red Flash to more than 275 wins and 12 EIVA Tournament appearances.

SFU's 25-man roster features 16 returners from their 2021 team that finished 8-19 overall and 6-12 in EIVA play. Graduate student Joshua Blair, a 6-foot-6 middle blocker, headlines the Red Flash returners after earning First Team All-EIVA honors last season.

The Red Flash were picked fifth (out of nine teams) in the EIVA preseason poll and have won 12 of their 22 matches to date, including an even 6-6 mark in conference. SFU will enter Friday's action looking to snap a four-match slide. They are coming off a 3-1 setback to Harvard and are winless since a 3-1 defeat of Ohio State on March 12.

Junior outside hitter Blake Liprando leads the Red Flash in kills (227), digs (114) and service aces (31).

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. ST. FRANCIS
Series Record: 0-1
At St. Francis: 0-1
Current Streak: Lost 1
Last Meeting: St. Francis 3, Daemen 0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-15) | Jan. 12, 2019 | at Loretto, Pa.

Print Friendly Version