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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
MVB_Henry Moffitt block vs Princeton 2023
3
Winner Daemen Daemen 7-1,2-0 NEC
2
Merrimack Merri 5-5,0-1 NEC
Winner
Daemen Daemen
7-1,2-0 NEC
3
Final
2
Merrimack Merri
5-5,0-1 NEC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Daemen Daemen 25 21 25 21 15 (3)
Merrimack Merri 18 25 21 25 11 (2)

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

Wildcats Rally For Five Set Victory Over Merrimack

The Wildcats Have Won Six Straight Matches And Are 2-0 In NEC Play

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Daemen University men's volleyball team moved to 2-0 in Northeast Conference play, topping Merrimack 3-2 (25-18, 21-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-11) in a five-set thriller on Friday night. The Wildcats win their sixth straight match, while dropping the Warriors to 5-5 on the season and 0-1 in NEC play.
 
The Wildcats played five sets in a match for the first time this season. Daemen narrowly out-killed Merrimack 49 to 48, and tallied a .227 hitting percentage while holding the Warriors to .169 on the night. The Daemen duo of Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) and Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) accounted for 24 kills total for a team-high 12 kills a piece. Merrimack's Xander Thesz finished with a match high 13 kills on the day. 

Daemen heads to Sacred Heart for a matinee match on Sunday. The Wildcats and Pioneers will face off at 11 AM.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Senior outside hitter Zach Schneider tallied his first double-double of the season. Schneider finished with 12 kills (2.4 kills/set) for a .280 hitting percentage as well as a team-high 14 digs (2.8 digs/set) while adding two aces, an assist, a solo block and an assisted block. 
  • Graduate student middle hitter Henry Moffitt finished with 12 kills (2.4 kills/set) on 19 attacks for a team-high .526 hitting percentage. Moffitt totaled a team-high three solo blocks, an assisted block, two assists and an ace on the day for a team-high 16.5 points.
  • Senior setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) finished just one dig shy of his third double-double of the season, totaling 35 assists (7.0 assists/set) and nine digs (1.8 digs/set) along with an ace, a solo block and two kills.
  • Opposites Jake Couzens (Hamburg, N.Y.) and Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) each tallied eight kills a piece. Couzens recorded eight kills on 17 attacks with no errors for a .471 hitting percentage, while Milligan finished with eight kills on 34 attacks for a .118 hitting percentage. 
GAME NOTES
  • Daemen records their first ever win over Merrimack. This is the inagural season of men's volleyball for the Warriors. 
  • The Wildcats notched a .316 hitting percentage on eight kills to take the first set 25-18. Kyle Zelasko (West Seneca, N.Y.) led the Wildcats with three kills.
  • 14 of Daemen's 25 points in the first came off Merrimack errors. The Warriors committed six attack errors and seven service errors in the first.
  • The second set featured streaks from both teams. Merrimack went on an 8-2 run to take an 18-11 lead over the Wildcats, but Daemen followed up with a 7-2 run of their own to make it a two-point game, 20-18. The Warriors went on to win the second set, 25-21.
  • The Warriors out-killed Daemen 14-9 in the second.
  • Daemen took the third set 25-21, out-killing Merrimack 14 to 11 for a .393 hitting percentage.  
  • The Warriors took the fourth set 25-21, despite Daemen totaling 11 kills in the set. Three Wildcats recorded attack errors towards the end of the set, including a set point attack error by Califf to tie it up at two and send the match to a fifth.
  • Like the entire match, the fifth set was back and forth from the start. The Wildcats went on a 6-1 run, taking advantage of three Merrimack attack errors, to take a 12-8 lead over the Warriors. Daemen would hang on to win the fifth set 15-11 and take the match.
  • Errors were prevalent on both sides of the court tonight. The Wildcats finished with a season-high 22 service errors and 19 attack errors. 
  • Daemen finished with eight aces on the night. Five Wildcats tallied aces, with Zelasko totaling a career-high three aces. Schneider finished with two, while Califf, Moffitt and Couzens each tallied one ace.
  • The Wildcats were predicted to finish fourth in the conference in the NEC preseason poll. 
  • Daemen joined the NEC for the conference's first ever men's volleyball season in 2023. The Wildcats and Warriors are two of eight teams playing in the NEC's inaugural season. 
  • Daemen is ranked sixth in in the latest Off The Block Division II Coaches Poll of the 2023 season.
  • The Wildcats are now 42-9 in their last 51 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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