AMHERST, N.Y. --
Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.),
Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) and
Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) of the Daemen University men's volleyball team have received Northeast Conference honors this week after the Wildcats took down Long Island University 3-0 at Lumsden Gymnasium to become the last undefeated team in conference play. Schneider was named First Point/NEC Player of the Week, Moffitt earned First Point/NEC Defensive Player of the Week, while Califf was named a First Point/NEC Prime Performer. The weekly awards are for competitions taking place March 6 through 12. Daemen has earned weekly conference awards for eight weeks out of a possible nine.
For the fourth time this season, Schneider was named the First Point/NEC Player of the Week for his performance against LIU. The 6-foot-6 senior outside hitter tallied his seventh double-digit kill performance of the season, posting 11 of Daemen's 43 total kills in the win. Schneider finished with a match-high 17 points after averaging 3.66 kills/set on 23 attempts for a .348 hitting percentage, while adding a team-high four aces and a team-high nine digs.
Schneider has appeared in 11 of Daemen's 12 matches on the year, and leads the Wildcats with 128 kills and ranks third in the NEC in both kills per set (3.37) and hitting percentage (.369). He leads the team in service aces (18) and second on the team in digs, tallying 64 on the season to average 1.68 digs/set. Schneider ranks second in the league in points (4.20 points/set). He has been named Player of the Week four times this season, and picked up six weekly conference awards this year.
Moffitt, a 6-foot-6 middle hitter, picks up his second First Point/NEC Defensive Player of the Week. The graduate student finished with a match-high six blocks (2.0 blocks/set), including a team-high five assisted blocks in the match. He tallied four kills on 14 attacks while adding a dig to finish with 7.5 points in the match.
Moffitt leads the Wildcats at the net with 35 total blocks to average 0.85 blocks per set, ranking him fifth in the NEC. The graduate student has tallied multiple blocks in eight of the 12 matches he's played in this season, including Thursday's six-block affair against LIU. On the year, Moffitt has totaled 73 kills (1.78 kills per set) and leads all NEC players with an impressive .449 hitting percentage after totaling just 12 hitting errors on just 136 attacks.
Califf, a 6-foot-5 setter, picks up his third First Point/NEC Prime Performer honor this season. He tallied 31 total assists (10.33 assists/set) along with seven digs, three block assists and two kills in Daemen's win over the Sharks. This is the first Prime Performer award for Califf since he earned the honor in back-to-back weeks on Jan. 17 and 24.
In his first season as a Wildcat, Califf has played in 11 of Daemen's 12 matches this season and leads the NEC with 9.13 assists per set. The senior has made quite the impact at Daemen this year, and leads the team defensively with 73 digs (1.92 digs/set), which ranks fifth in the NEC, and totaling 18 blocks (0.47 blocks/set) to rank third on the team at the net. Califf established a new program record for assists during a five-set match against Sacred Heart back on Feb. 19. He posted a career-high 57 assists in the 3-2 win, breaking the previous record of 54 set by current teammate
Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) vs. Lincoln Memorial on Feb. 9, 2020.
The Wildcats have been represented in eight out of a possible nine NEC weekly reports since the beginning of their season. Schneider and
Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) have each been named Player of the Week,
Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) has been named the Defensive Player of the Week twice, while Zelasko, Schneider, Moffitt, Milligan,
Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) and
Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) have each been named Prime Performer this season. Califf has been named a Prime Performer three times while and Moffitt and Schneider have each earned it twice.
Daemen is 11-1 on the year and a perfect 6-0 record in conference play. The Wildcats are riding a 10-game win streak, the longest active win streak in the country. Daemen heads west for a three match trip in California where they will face Concordia Irvine on Wednesday, No. 7 Pepperdine on Friday and No. 12 Cal State Northridge on Saturday.
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.
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