Wildcats Return To Action Saturday At D'Youville

4/15/2022 10:00:00 AM

Match #19
Daemen Wildcats (13-5) vs. D'Youville Saints (8-10)
Saturday, Apr. 16 | 1 p.m. | Buffalo, N.Y. | College Center Gymnasium

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Live Stats

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Daemen University men's volleyball team ends a 15-day hiatus Saturday when visiting Western New York rival D'Youville for a 1 p.m. match at the College Center Gymnasium. The Wildcats have set a new program record with 13 wins this season, but have been idle since a 3-1 loss at St. Francis (Pa.) on April 1.

Daemen will be going for the season sweep of the Saints. The Wildcats scored a 3-1 win when the teams met at Lumsden Gymnasium back on March 2. Sophomore right side Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) posted a career-high 13 kills while juniors Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) and Jake Couzens (Hamburg, N.Y.) chipped in with 10 and nine kills, respectively, to pace the Wildcats. Ian De Wilde led D'Youville, finishing with a match-high 18 kills in a losing effort.

Daemen is 5-1 all-time vs. D'Youville and will enter Saturday's match having won five straight in the series.

The Wildcats are ranked ninth in this week's Division II National Coaches Poll released by Off The Block. After being the only NCAA Division I-II team to finish the 2021 season without a loss, Daemen has been ranked in the poll for 12 straight weeks. The Wildcats have won 11 of their last 14 matches. Dating back to February 2020, Daemen is 32-7 in their last 39 matches with wins in 19 straight matches against Division II and III opponents.

Schneider has led the Daemen offense all season and enters the weekend averaging 3.38 kills per set. He has posted 10+ kills in 12 of the 16 matches he's appeared in this season. Schneider also ranks 15th among the national leaders for service aces per set, averaging 0.48. As a team, Daemen ranks first among all Division I-II teams with 2.17 services aces per set.

D'Youville has won four of their last six matches, but saw a three-match winning streak halted with a 3-0 loss ot Queens (N.C.) last Saturday.

Following Saturday's match, Daemen will set their sights on the Independent Volleyball Association Tournament which is set for April 22-23 in Charlotte, N.C. The Wildcats will play three matches over the two-day tournament which features eight Division II volleyball independents. The tournament schedule is expected to be announced early next week.

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