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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
MVB bench celebration 2023
3
Winner Daemen Daemen 6-1,1-0 NEC
0
D'Youville DYO 3-3,0-1 NEC
Winner
Daemen Daemen
6-1,1-0 NEC
3
Final
0
D'Youville DYO
3-3,0-1 NEC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Daemen Daemen 25 25 25 (3)
D'Youville DYO 18 21 14 (0)

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

1-0 In Conference Play! Cats Sweep D'Youville In First NEC Match

Gleason Earns 50th Career Win

BUFFALO, N.Y. – History made!!! In their first ever Northeast Conference match, the Daemen University men's volleyball team took down D'Youville 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-14) on Friday night. With the victory, head coach Don Gleason earned his 50th career win. The Wildcats move to 6-1 on the season and open up NEC play with a 1-0 record. The Saints drop to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in NEC. 

D'Youville put up a fight throughout the match and kept the first two matches close. Daemen's electric third set sealed the deal, marking their fourth sweep of the season. Six Wildcats tallied kills, with senior outside hitter Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) as the match's leading hitter, totaling 11 kills (3.66 kills/set) on 18 attacks for a .500 hitting percentage and a match-high 14 points. Daemen out-killed the Saints 34-24 in the match, and totaled a .349 hitting percentage compared to just .132 for D'Youville. 

The Wildcats are idle until next Friday, Feb. 17 when Daemen travels to play at Merrimack in a 7 PM match. 

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • On top of being the top offensive performer on the night, Zach Schneider finished with a team-high six digs (2.0 digs/set), two aces and a solo block. Schneider finished as Daemen's leading hitter for the third match this season.  
  • Graduate student middle hitter Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) tallied a season-high eight kills (2.66 kills/set) on 11 attacks with no errors for a .727 hitting percentage. Moffitt added an ace and an assisted block to his stat line.
  • Senior opposite Jake Couzens (Hamburg, N.Y.) notched a season-high six kills (2.0 kills/set) with a .333 hitting percentage while tallying an ace, two digs and a solo block. 
  • Senior setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) finished with 29 assists (9.66 assists/set) along with five digs, an ace and a kill.   
GAME NOTES
  • Daemen joined the NEC for the conference's first ever men's volleyball season in 2023. The Wildcats and Saints are two of eight teams playing in the NEC's inaugural season. 
  • Junior opposite Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) and Moffitt each tallied three kills in the first set. Moffitt earned a season-high .750 hitting percentage in the first after knocking down three kills on four attempts.
  • Milligan accounted for two of Daemen's five first set aces. Freshman defensive specialist Kyle Zelasko (Orchard Park, N.Y.), Schneider and Califf each tallied a first set ace.
  • The Wildcats and Saints traded points to open up the match until Daemen opened up the scoring going on a 7-3 run and maintained a lead through to the end of the set. Daemen took the first, 25-18.
  • Like the first set, the second set was back and forth from the first serve. The Cats led 19-17, but D'Youville tied it up at 19. Daemen then tallied five kills, courtesy of Schneider and Moffitt and a block by Moffitt and Zelasko sealed the deal to top the Saints 25-21.
  • Schneider tallied seven kills in the second set and entered the third with a .400 hitting percentage.
  • The Cats out-killed D'Youville 14-10 in the second set to tally a .385 hitting percentage.
  • After opening the third set tied up at five, the Wildcats went on a 12-2 run to take as much as a 17-7 lead in the set. Daemen would cruise to a 25-14 third set victory to close out the match. 
  • The Wildcats out-killed the Saints 12-5 in the third set and tallied a .529 hitting percentage while holding D'Youville to a -.100 third set hitting percentage. 
  • Daemen finished with nine service aces from the hands of six Wildcats. Schneider, Milligan and Zelasko each tallied two aces in the match. 
  • Five players accounted for five blocks in the match. The Wildcats totaled four solo blocks, marking the most since Daemen notched six solo blocks against American International in the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 21. 
  • The Wildcats were predicted to finish fourth in the conference in the NEC 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 41-9 in their last 50 matches, a span that dates back to February 2020.
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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