Game #1
Daemen Wildcats (0-0, 0-0 NEC) vs. Princeton Tigers (0-0, 0-0 EIVA)
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 10
Time: 7 PM
Location: Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
Live Stream: via
NEC Front Row
Live Stats: via
daemenwildcats.com
Tickets here
WELCOME BACK
The Daemen University men's volleyball team kicks off the 2023 season with a home-opening match against the Princeton Tigers on Tuesday night at 7 PM at Lumsden Gymnasium.
2023 SCHEDULE
A 25-match slate awaits the Wildcats this season, including three games against Ivy League opponents and a trip out west to play three California teams. After Tuesday's match against Princeton, Daemen will travel to play at Penn State on Friday night, then will return to Lumsden for two matches against AIC and Central State before a six-game road schedule that features Harvard, St. John Fisher and AIC. The Wildcats open up their inaugural season in the Division I Northeast Conference (NEC) across town at D'Youville on Friday, Feb. 10 and will play six NEC matches before they head to California to take on Concordia Irvine, Pepperdine and Cal-State Northridge on March 15-18. Daemen returns to NEC play for their final eight matches of the season and will play for a chance to appear in the inaugural NEC Men's Volleyball Tournament, presented by First Point Volleyball Foundation on April 21-22.
HEAD COACH DON GLEASON
Don Gleason returns to the helm for his fifth year as the head coach of the Wildcats. In the program's first four years, Gleason has led Daemen to a 44-30 overall record, including a perfect 10-0 season in 2021 that saw the Wildcats as the only Division I-II team without a loss. Gleason led Daemen to a program high 16-win season in 2022.
LOOK BACK AT LAST SEASON
The Wildcats finished the 2022 campaign with a 16-6 overall record and played in the Independent Volleyball Association Tournament finals for the first time in program history, falling to four-time IVA Tournament champions Lincoln Memorial 3-0 in the championship. Daemen played six of the teams that are now a part of the NEC. In those matches, Daemen went 4-3, topping Long Island University, Fairleigh Dickinson and sweeping D'Youville in two games on the season but falling to Saint Francis, Sacred Heart and St. Francis Brooklyn.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
In their fifth season as a program, this Daemen team is full of upperclassmen, including some players that have been a part of the team from the get-go. Returning for his fifth season is graduate student
Michael Krueger, who has been the Wildcats' primary setter since the team's inception. Krueger averaged 9.61 assists per set in 2022, and tallied 27 blocks and 22 aces.
Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) returns for his senior season after leading the Wildcats to a program record 257 kills in 2022 and averaging 3.52 kills per set for a .310 hitting percentage in 2022. Junior outside hitter
Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) tallied 157 kills on the year to average 2.15 kills/set, and both he and Schneider earned IVA Championship All-Tournament Team honors last season. Senior outside hitter
Ryan Parker (Fairport, N.Y.) led the team in digs on the year (119). The Wildcats also feature senior outside/middle hitter
Jake Couzens (Hamburg, N.Y.), who tallied a team-high 57 blocks on the year (0.76 blocks/set) and team-high 32 service aces in 2022, and owns the program's record for blocks and blocks/set in a single season, as well as the program record for service aces in a single season.
PRESEASON POLL POSITION
In their first year as a member of the NEC, Daemen is been picked to finish fourth in the conference in the men's volleyball preseason poll behind Saint Francis, St. Francis Brooklyn and Long Island University, who all picked up first-place votes in the poll.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will travel to State College, Pa. on Friday for a 7 PM match against Penn State.
SCOUTING THE PRINCETON TIGERS
Ranked No. 15 in the AVCA Preseason Poll, the defending Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) champion Tigers open up their 2023 campaign at D'Youville on Monday before Tuesday's match against Daemen. Princeton returns 10 upperclassmen, including junior outside hitter
Ben Harrington who was named 2022 EIVA Tournament MVP, All-EIVA First Team selection and EIVA Newcomer of the Year, and senior
Nate Thompson who ranked second on the team in points per set (3.22) and earned 2022 All-EIVA honorable mention. The Tigers posted a 15-13 record in 2022 and finished 10-6 in EIVA play. After a slow start to the season including losing eight out of nine matches, Princeton won 10 straight to win the EIVA and advance to the NCAA Tournament where they fell to North Greenville 0-3. Harrington led the Tigers in kills (326), averaging 3.36 kills per set and finished with a .272 hitting percentage on the year. Sophomore
Henry Wedbush comes into the season as Princeton's primary setter after splitting time with senior Joe Kelly in 2022. Wedbush averaged 5.84 assists per set last season.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. PRINCETON
Series Record: 1-0 Daemen
Away Record: 1-0 Daemen
Last Meeting: 3-2 Daemen (25-16, 25-21, 18-25, 18-25, 15-12) | Princeton, N.J.
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 University men's volleyball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenMVB.
