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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
MVB team huddle 2023
3
Winner Saint Francis (PA) SF-PA 8-11,5-2 NEC
2
Daemen Daemen 13-4,7-1 NEC
Winner
Saint Francis (PA) SF-PA
8-11,5-2 NEC
3
Final
2
Daemen Daemen
13-4,7-1 NEC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Saint Francis (PA) SF-PA 26 19 26 18 17 (3)
Daemen Daemen 24 25 24 25 15 (2)

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

Cats Upset By Red Flash In Five-Set Thriller

AMHERST, N.Y. – In an exciting battle between two of the top teams in the Northeast Conference, Saint Francis University upended the Daemen University men's volleyball team 3-2 (24-26, 25-19, 24-26, 25-18, 15-17) on Saturday afternoon. It marked the first conference loss for the Wildcats this season, moving them to 7-1 in NEC play and 13-4 on the year. The loss also snapped Daemen's 16-match home win streak, which was the second-longest active win streak in NCAA Division I-II men's volleyball. 
 
It was a game of runs for both Daemen and Saint Francis with both teams trading points, and sets, throughout the match. The Wildcats narrowly out-killed the Red Flash 59 to 56 on the day, and hit at a .301 clip while holding SFU to a .193 hitting percentage. Daemen junior opposite Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) put together a career-high outing, leading all hitters with his 25-kill (5 kills/set) performance. The Wildcats had two double-figure hitters today in Milligan and Zach Schneider, and added three double-digit diggers in setter Sean Califf, libero Ryan Parker and Schneider. 

The Wildcats head downstate this weekend for a pair of NEC matches, first traveling to Long Island to take on the Sharks in a 7 PM match on Friday night, then traveling to play at Saint Francis Brooklyn on Saturday at 1 PM. 
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Cameron Milligan finished with a career-high 25 kills on 44 attempts for a .432 hitting percentage in the loss. The 6-foot-4 junior opposite added four digs, three assists, an ace and a solo block to his match-high 27 point night. 
  • Senior setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) tallied his fourth double-double (assists-digs) of the season, finishing with 41 assists (8.2 assists/set) and 15 digs (3 digs/set) as well as one solo block. 
  • Outside hitter Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) finished with his second double-double (kills-digs) and 12th double-digit kill performance of the season, totaling 14 kills (2.8 kills/set) for a .154 hitting percentage. The 6-foot-6 senior finished with a career-high and match-high seven solo blocks on the day, and added 14 digs, two assists and an ace to his 22-point performance. 
  • Freshman defensive specialist Kyle Zelasko (West Seneca, N.Y.) totaled nine kills while hitting at a .238 clip. Zelasko tallied six assists and two digs on the day.
GAME NOTES
  • This afternoon's match marked the third meeting between Daemen and SFU. Saint Francis has won all three matches played against the Wildcats. 
  • The first set was a game of runs for both teams. The Wildcats took a 7-4 lead early, but the Red Flash came crawling back to make it a one-point game. From there, Daemen went on a 6-2 run, but again SFU put together a comeback, this time taking the one point lead over Daemen. After the Wildcats won the next four points, the Red Flash went on a 6-1 run, including five unanswered points on Daemen's set point, to take the exciting first set 26-24.
  • Daemen tallied just six first-set kills. Moffitt led all Daemen hitters in the first with three kills for a .600 hitting percentage. For the first time in a long time, Schneider did not record a kill in the set, but instead led the match with four first-set solo blocks.
  • Just like the first set, the second set was just as back-and-forth. Up by three late in the set, Daemen won four of the last five points to take the second set 25-19 and tie the match up at one a piece.
  • Milligan and Schneider each totaled four kills in the second set, accounting for eight of Daemen's 12 second-set kills, and helped lead the Wildcats to a .391 hitting percentage.
  • After trading points to open up the third, Saint Francis went on a run to take a 12-8 lead. Late in the set, the Red Flash had a 21-17 lead after going on a 6-3 run, but three straight Daemen kills and an SFU attack error tied the set up at 21.
  • After tying the game up at 23 apiece, the Red Flash won three of the next four points to win the third set 26-24 and take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
  • Milligan and Schneider tallied six and five kills, respectively, in the third. The Wildcats out-killed SFU in the set 17-15.
  • Daemen out-killed the Red Flash 14 to 8 in the fourth set to win it 25-18 and force a pivotal fifth set. This marked just the fourth match this season that the Wildcats went to five sets.
  • Milligan was on fire in the fourth, totaling nine kills, including the set victory, for the Cats. Daemen hit at an impressive .522 clip in the fourth set.
  • SFU opened the fifth set with a 5-2 run, but Daemen tied it up at five a piece. The Wildcats went on to take as much as a two-point lead (9-7), but as it went for the entire match, the Red Flash put together a comeback and tied things up again at 11. 
  • Schneider notched a massive kill to put the Wildcats into their first match point, up 14-13 in the set. An attack error by Daemen tied it up at 14, but Schneider again posted a kill to make it 15-14 for their second match point.
  • The Wildcats moved up to fifth in the latest Off The Block poll after their big 3-2 win over No. 12 CSUN in California last week. It marked the first time in Daemen program history that the Wildcats upset a nationally-ranked team.
  • 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.
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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