Match #22
Daemen Wildcats (17-4, 11-1 NEC) vs. Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (5-17, 2-10 NEC)
Date: Friday, April 14
Time: 5 PM
Location: Hackensack, N.J. | Stratis Arena
Live Stream: via
NEC Front Row
Live Stats: via
fduknights.com
Match #23
Daemen Wildcats (17-4, 11-1 NEC) vs. Saint Francis Red Flash (13-11, 10-2 NEC)
Date: Saturday, April 15
Time: 4 PM
Location: Loretto, Pa. | DeGol Arena
Live Stream: via
NEC Front Row
Live Stats: via
sfuathletics.com
BIG WEEKEND
The Daemen University men's volleyball team has a big weekend on hand as they travel down for their final pair of regular season Northeast Conference matches. The Wildcats will first play at Fairleigh Dickinson University on Friday evening at 5 PM before playing in the last, and biggest, match of regular season play when they take on Saint Francis University, the only team to have beaten them in NEC play this season, on Saturday at 4 PM.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS
The Wildcats secured a berth in the inaugural NEC Championship Tournament, held April 19-22, on April 1 after beating Long Island University in a five-set match. Daemen currently sits alone atop the NEC standings with a 11-1 record in conference play, but Saint Francis sits right behind them in second place with a 10-2 NEC record. Should the Wildcats win both matches this weekend, they will clinch the No. 1 seed in the conference and the right to host the inaugural NEC Tournament at Lumsden Gymnasium. The top six teams in the conference will earn a spot in the tournament, and the top two teams will get a first-round bye.
1. Daemen (11-1) *
2. Saint Francis (10-2) *
3. LIU (9-3) *
4. St. Francis Brooklyn (5-7)
5. Sacred Heart (5-7)
6. D'Youville (3-9)
7. Merrimack (3-9)
8. FDU (2-10)
* Clinched NEC Tournament berth
LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
Daemen put together a pair of NEC victories in their final homestand of the regular season, first besting Sacred Heart 3-1 (25-18, 26-24, 25-12, 25-22) on Friday night after a trio of Wildcats recorded double-digit kills.
Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) led all hitters with 20 kills on the day for a .643 hitting percentage,
Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) finished with 17 kills for a .278 hitting percentage, and
Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) totaled 11 kills for a .588 hitting percentage and a match-high five blocks. In their final regular season match at home on Senior Night on Saturday, Daemen swept Merrimack 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-16) in a match where eight Wildcats recorded kills. Seniors
Matthew Garry (Lancaster, N.Y.),
Jake Couzens (Hamburg, N.Y.),
Ryan Parker (Fairport, N.Y.) and graduate student Moffitt were honored before the game. Schneider was the sole Daemen player to finish with double-digit kills (11 kills for a .333 hitting percentage). Daemen wrapped up their regular season home schedule with a 9-1 record at Lumsden this season. The one loss was to Saint Francis who snapped Daemen's 13-match home win streak, which was, at the time, the longest active home win streak in NCAA Division I-II men's volleyball.
RECORD YEARS
It was a record-breaking weekend at Lumsden Gymnasium as three Wildcats broke program records over the pair of matches! With his 20-kill performance on Friday night,
Zach Schneider broke Daemen's single-season kill record, eclipsing his own record of 257 total kills (set in 2022) in a season. So far this season, Schneider has totaled a league-high 272 kills to average 3.68 kills per set. On his own Senior Night on Saturday,
Henry Moffitt recorded four blocks and broke the single-season block record (57 set by
Jake Couzens in 2022). Moffitt has 60 total blocks already this season which ranks fifth in the NEC. After tallying 25 assists en route to Daemen's 3-0 sweep over Merrimack on Saturday, senior setter
Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) broke the program's single-season assist record, eclipsing
Michael Krueger's 667 assists in the 2019 season. Califf's 689 total assists this year (9.31 assists/set) ranks second in the league. This was the second program record that Califf has set this season, as the senior broke Krueger's record for the most single-game assists in a five set match with his 57 assist performance vs. Sacred Heart on Feb. 19.
HISTORICAL SEASON
With their 3-0 win over Merrimack on Saturday, the Wildcats have tallied the most wins in a single season in program history. Daemen finished their successful 2022 campaign with a 16-6 record, with that record including three postseason matches in the Independent Volleyball Association Championship (IVAC). The Wildcats have amassed a .810 win percentage on the season, and a .917 win percentage in their first season in NEC play (11-1 conference record). Over the program's five year history, Daemen has a 61-34 overall record. On top of their most wins in program history and the many statistical records broken this season, the Wildcats also notched another first when they tallied the program's first ever win over a nationally-ranked team in their 3-2 victory over No. 12 ranked Cal State Northridge on March 18 on their California road trip. A pair of wins this weekend would make Daemen the first ever regular season champions in the inaugural men's volleyball season for the Northeast Conference.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Three Wildcats picked up weekly conference awards after the weekend sweep over Sacred Heart and Merrimack. Milligan, Moffitt and Schneider were each named First Point/NEC Prime Performers, marking the 11th week out of a possible 12 weeks that the Wildcats have been included in the NEC weekly awards. Milligan finished the weekend with 25 kills, eight digs, three blocks and an ace. Schneider totaled 31 kills, 10 digs and three blocks on the weekend, and led all hitters in both matches. Moffitt finished with 18 kills, nine blocks and five digs.
POLL POSITION
The Wildcats remain ranked fifth in the
Off The Block Division II Coaches Poll for week 14 of the 2023 season, as released on Wednesday. Off The Block is a website solely dedicated to the coverage of collegiate men's volleyball, and conducts a Division II national poll every Wednesday. Daemen has been included in 24 straight OTB polls.
STAT CATS
In matches played through April 6, Daemen ranks atop the NEC in points (15.96 points/set), hitting percentage (.294), assists (11.06 assists/set), lowest opponent hitting percentage (.201), kills (12.18 kills/set), service aces (1.70 per set) and fewest opponent aces (1.11 per set). The Wildcats rank second in the league in opponent assists (9.66 assists/set), opponent kills (10.59 kills/set), blocks (2.08 blocks/set) and opponent digs (8.25 digs/set). Moffitt leads all NEC hitters with an impressive .442 hitting percentage and ranks fifth in the league in blocks (0.78 blocks/set). Schneider leads the Wildcats with a program-high 272 kills and ranks second behind Moffitt in the NEC in hitting percentage (.370) and fourth in the league in kills per set (3.68) on the year, while ranking third in the league in points (4.36 points/set) and ranking second on the team in service aces (24) and digs, tallying 135 on the season to average 1.82 digs/set. Milligan ranks fifth in the NEC for service aces (0.31 aces/set) and seventh in both kills (3.01 kills/set) and points (3.63 points/set). Califf ranks second in the NEC in assists (9.31 assists/set) and sixth in digs (1.88 digs/set). Freshman
Kyle Zelasko (West Seneca, N.Y.) is second in the NEC for service aces (0.39 aces/set).
IN-CONFERENCE STATS
Through 10 NEC matches, the Wildcats have shown out against their conference opponents. Three Wildcats rank in the top-five in hitting percentage (Moffitt leads the league with a .469 in-conference hitting percentage, Couzens ranks second with .399, and Schneider is fourth at .358 percentage). Schneider ranks fourth in kills (3.50 kills/set), Califf leads the league in assists (9.66 assists/set), while Zelasko (ranked first at 0.53 aces/set), Schneider (third at 0.33 aces/set) and Milligan (fifth at 0.31 aces/set) are three of the top five players in service aces in conference play.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will begin postseason play in the inaugural NEC Championship Tournament, to be held at the highest seed on April 19 through 22. A first or second place seed will ensure a first-round bye and an automatic spot in the NEC semifinals on April 20. The conference championship will be held at 4 PM on April 22.
SCOUTING THE FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON KNIGHTS
Playing in just their second season as a program and their first season in a conference, the Knights come into Friday night's match with a 5-17 overall record and 2-10 in NEC play. Offensively, the Knights are led by freshman phenom
Jamal Ellis Carballo, sophomore outside hitter
Jack Lydon, and sophomore outside hitter
Artem Vetrov who combine for 486 of FDU's 915 total kills. Ellis Carballo leads the conference with 4.22 kills/set and has been named the First Point/NEC Rookie of the Week for the three times this season. The Knights offense is run by graduate student setter
Rui Fernandes who ranks fourth in the NEC in both assists (8.90 per set) and digs (2.10 per set). Ellis Carballo and junior middle hitter
Santiago La Jara lead the team at the net, with Ellis Carballo ranking 10th in the conference with 0.63 blocks/set, and La Jara averaging 0.51 blocks/set on the season. In the last meeting between the Wildcats and the Knights, Daemen swept the match, 3-0.
ALL-TIME SERIES RECORD
Series Record: 2-0 Daemen
Last Meeting: 3-0 Daemen (25-15, 25-13, 25-22) | March 24, 2023 | Amherst, N.Y.
SCOUTING THE SAINT FRANCIS RED FLASH
A longtime member of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA), the Red Flash left to play in the Northeast Conference for this inaugural season. Saturday's match will be a battle for the top seed in the NEC and the right to host the inaugural NEC Championship Tournament. As the only team to beat Daemen in conference play this season, Saint Francis comes into Saturday with a 13-11 overall record and a 10-2 record in conference play to sit in second place in the league behind the Wildcats. On the year, the Red Flash ranks third in the league in points (15.03 per set), aces (1.51 aces/set), opponent kills (10.74 kills/set), opponent assists (10.07 per set) and opponent hitting percentage (.241), while ranking second in the NEC behind Daemen in hitting percentage (.275) and kills (11.64 kills/set). Boasting a balanced offense, Saint Francis has five players with triple-digit kills this season, with senior outside hitter
Blake Liprando leading the way with 208 kills (2.67 kills/set). Junior opposite
Trevor Lewis ranks seventh in the conference with a .289 hitting percentage and averages 2.52 kills/set, while sophomore outside hitter
Andrew Deardorff ranks 10th in the NEC with an average of 2.84 kills/set. Junior setter
Ryan Parker leads the league in service aces (0.43 per set) while ranking fifth in assists (8.74 per set).
ALL-TIME SERIES RECORD
Series Record: 3-0 St. Francis
Away Record: 2-0 St. Francis
Last Meeting: 3-2 St. Francis (24-26, 25-19, 24-26, 25-18, 15-17) | March 25, 2023 | Amherst, N.Y.
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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