AMHERST, N.Y. – Home, sweep home! The Daemen University men's volleyball team notched their second straight sweep with a perfect 3-0 (25-12, 25-7, 25-19) victory over NAIA member Warner University on Thursday night. With the win, the Wildcats move to 2-1 on the year, while the Royals open the 2024 season with a 0-1 record.
The Wildcats came out of the gate swinging in the match, out-killing Warner 30 to 14 on the night and finishing with a .377 hitting percentage. After picking up Northeast Conference Prime Performer honors for the first time in his career this week, junior outside hitter
Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) was Daemen's big hitter tonight, finishing with a team-high eight kills for a .429 hitting percentage.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Weiberg finished with eight kills and two errors on 14 attacks in the win, and added two aces, two assists, three digs and one block assist in his 10.5-point night.
- Freshman middle Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) posted a career-high six kills with two errors on 10 attacks for a .400 hitting percentage. The 6-foot-7 impressive freshman added two block assists in the win. Arabasz and Wieberg were the only two hitters to play in all three sets tonight.
- Junior outside hitter Jake Basinski (Eden, N.Y.) totaled a season-high four kills with one error on five attacks for a .600 hitting percentage, adding two digs, one assisted block and one assist.
- Fifth year outside hitter Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) got four kills on six attacks for a .667 hitting percentage, adding one ace and three digs.
- Junior middle blocker Ethan Sturm (Lisle, Ill.) posted four kills and one error on six attacks for a .500 hitting percentage with three aces.
- Fifth year setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) played in all three sets, finishing with 20 assists, four digs, one ace and one block assist.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- After trading points to open the first set, the Wildcats went on a 7-1 run to take a six-point lead. Daemen scored 12 of the final 17 points in the game to take the first set 25-12. Warner committed seven attack errors in the first. Wieberg, Schneider and O'Neill each tallied two kills for the Wildcats.
- Jumping out to a sizeable lead early in the second, Daemen scored eight unanswered points in the middle of the set to lead the Royals 19-5. The Wildcats only gave up two more points down the stretch, taking the second set 25-7.
- The third set was back and forth from the start, but after Warner brought the game within two points – 15-13 – the Wildcats went on a 6-1 run and maintained a lead through to the end of the set, topping Warned 25-19 in the final set of the match.
- The Wildcats totaled a season-high 13 service aces, with eight players finishing with aces in the match and four players totaling multiple aces.
- Eight Wildcats recorded kills in Daemen's 30-14 effort.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will travel to Massachusetts next weekend, stopping first in Cambridge on the campus of Harvard to play a pair of nationally-ranked west coast teams in #17 University of California Santa Barbara on Friday, Feb. 2 at 4 PM, then taking on #5 Grand Canyon on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 5 PM. The Wildcats will travel to Springfield, Mass. to play at AIC on Sunday, Feb. 4 to complete their road trip around Massachusetts.
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.
