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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
MVB_Kyle Zelasko attack vs Central State 2023
Geoff Schneider
0
Central St. (OH) CentSt 3-4,0-0 SIAC
3
Winner Daemen Daemen 3-1,0-0 NEC
Central St. (OH) CentSt
3-4,0-0 SIAC
0
Final
3
Daemen Daemen
3-1,0-0 NEC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Central St. (OH) CentSt 15 17 17 (0)
Daemen Daemen 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball | | CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

Cats Cruise To Second Straight Sweep

AMHERST, N.Y. – In their final home match until Feb. 23, the Daemen University men's volleyball team earned their second straight sweep of the season, cruising to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-17) victory over Central State at Lumsden Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats move to 3-1 on the year, and 3-0 on home court. In their second year as a program, Central State moves to a 3-3 record. 

After Daemen dominated from the jump in the first set, the Marauders kept the second and third set closer, but aside from short Central State runs to open up the sets, the Wildcats were never really playing from behind. Seven different Wildcats recorded kills in the match, with Daemen junior outside hitter Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) leading all hitters on the court with 12 kills (4.0 kills/set).

Daemen posted their second highest kill total on the season with 41, while holding Central State to just 26 kills all match. The Wildcats finished with a .354 hitting percentage in the match after committing just 12 hitting errors on the day. 

The Wildcats will play at Division III powerhouse St. John Fisher in an exhibition match on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 2 PM. 

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Cameron Milligan recorded just one error with his 12 kills on 22 attacks for a season-high .500 hitting percentage in the match. The junior outside hitter added a season-high three service aces, three assisted blocks and a dig for a match-high 16.5 points. 
  • Freshman defensive specialist Kyle Zelasko (West Seneca, N.Y.) finished with a career-high nine kills (3.0 kills/set) on 19 attacks to finish with a .211 hitting percentage. He added two assists, an ace and five digs for a career-high 10 points. 
  • Senior setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) was Daemen's primary setter in two sets but finished with his second double-double of the season, totaling 15 assists (7.5 assists/set) and 10 digs (5.0 digs/set). Califf was the only Wildcat player to reach double-digit digs for the second match this season.
  • Graduate student Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) finished with six kills on nine attacks for a match-high .667 hitting percentage, while adding a solo block and two assisted blocks  and a dig to his stat line. 
  • Central State's 6-foot-9 middle blocker D'Aaron McCraney stood out for the Marauders with nine kills (3.0 kills/set) and just two errors for a .412 hitting percentage, and totaled six of CSU's seven solo blocks to finish with a team-high 16.5 points on the day.  
GAME NOTES
  • The Wildcats' 3-1 record marks their second best start to the season in program history, and the best since 2021's perfect 10-0 season.
  • Daemen improves to 2-0 all-time over Central State. Daemen swept the Marauders in their first ever matchup last season on Feb. 26, 2022 at Lumsden Gymnasium.
  • The Wildcats out-killed the Marauders 41 to 26, out-assisted (34-20), out-dug (39-28) and totaled eight service aces compared to just two for the Marauders. 
  • Milligan led all Wildcat hitters with three first set kills along with a trio of Wildcats that each had two kills in the first. Daemen out-killed Central State 10 to 8 in the set with a .273 hitting percentage compared to just .077 for the Marauders.
  • The Marauders went on a 6-3 run to open the second set, but a 10-3 Daemen run put the Wildcats ahead halfway through the second, and Central State would never be able to catch up in the set.
  • Zelasko hammered six kills in the second set alone, tying his previous career high of six total kills set in last Saturday's match against American International.
  • Daemen totaled 18 kills with just three errors in the second set for a .484 hitting percentage.
  • Milligan totaled a match-high five kills in the third set and added two assisted blocks. 
  • Sophomore middle hitter Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) played in two sets and finished with three kills on six attempts for a .333 hitting percentage, and added a solo block and an assisted block to his stat line. 
  • The Wildcats amassed 54 points in the match, compared to 36 for the Marauders.
  • Daemen cut down on errors across the board against CSU, and finished with a season-low nine service errors in the match. 
  • Daemen accepted an invitation to join the Northeast Conference back in May, marking a significant stride for the program which has competed as an NCAA Division I-II independent since its inception in 2019. With support from the First Point Volleyball Foundation, the NEC announced men's volleyball as the league's 25th championship sport in September of 2021.
  • The Wildcats were picked to finish fourth in the NEC men's volleyball preseason poll.
  • Daemen is ranked sixth in in the latest Off The Block Division II Coaches Poll of the 2023 season.
  • The Wildcats are now 38-9 in their last 47 matches, a span that dates back to February 2020. Daemen owns a 17-3 home record in that span. The Wildcats have not lost at home since Jan. 29, 2022 - a 3-2 setback to St. Francis College Brooklyn. 
Daemen University 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 men's volleyball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenMVB.
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