Men's Volleyball Opens 2024 Campaign At #5 Ohio State On Sunday

1/5/2024 4:03:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

READY FOR IT?
The Daemen University men's volleyball team jumps headfirst into the 2024 season on Sunday, January 7 as they take on #5 Ohio State in a huge road match. The Wildcats are playing a top-5 American Volleyball Coaches (AVCA) ranked opponent for the second straight season and the third time in program history. Daemen played at #3 Penn State early in the 2023 season and hosted #2 UCLA in their 2020 season opener.

SUCCESSFUL 2023
The Wildcats are coming off a tremendous 2023 season where they finished 17-7 overall and 11-3 in the inaugural Northeast Conference season. Daemen set a program record for wins in a single season and picked up big wins against Princeton and Harvard early in the season and beat #12 CSUN 3-2 on their California road trip, marking the first time in program history that the Wildcats beat a nationally-ranked team. The Cats finished second in the NEC regular season and played in the first ever NEC Men's Volleyball Championship where they fell in the semifinals to eventual champion LIU.

FAMILIAR FACES
The Wildcats return 10 players including four starters from last season's team, including the 2023 NEC Player of the Year and Daemen's first player to earn AVCA Honorable Mention All-America in outside hitter Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) who returns to Daemen for his fifth year. Along with Schneider, First Team All-NEC setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) returns for his fifth year after starting in 23 of Daemen's 24 matches on the season and breaking the program's single-season assist record (779 assists) along with setting Daemen records for assists in a five-set match (57 vs. Sacred Heart on Feb. 19) and assists in a three-set match (39 vs. LIU on April 20). Califf ran the Wildcat offense to finish atop the NEC in kills (12.18 kills/set), hitting percentage (.289), assists (11.13 assists/set) and points (15.75 points/set). Senior opposite Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) earned Second Team All-NEC honors in 2023 after starting in 23 of Daemen's 24 matches and finishing second on the team with 238 kills for a .234 hitting percentage. Milligan also ranked second on the team and sixth in the NEC with 26 service aces.

ZACH ATTACK
In his senior season at Daemen, Schneider broke the program's single-season kill record (318) and single-season dig record (156), finished third in the NEC with 3.83 kills per set and fourth in the league with a .361 hitting percentage in 2023, while also breaking Daemen's kill record in a four-set match (23 vs. Saint Francis on April 15) three-set match (19 vs. LIU on April 20 in the NEC Semifinals). He was the first ever NEC Player of the Year after being named the First Point/NEC Player of the Week five times and a First Point/NEC Prime Performer four times throughout the season, and was named the 2023 Daemen Athletics Male Athlete of the Year.

PRESEASON TUNE UP
Daemen hosted Brock University of Canada on Thursday evening in an exhibition match, topping the Badgers 3-0. The Wildcats out-hit Brock 35-21 in the match for a .358 hitting percentage, committing just 11 attack errors on 67 total attacks. Daemen finished with seven aces to Brock's one and totaled six blocks after garnering eight block assists and two solo blocks. Milligan led the Wildcats offensively with nine kills and zero errors on 14 attacks for a .643 hitting percentage, adding two assists, one dig and an assisted block. Schneider finished with eight kills on 14 attacks with three errors for a .357 hitting percentage along with five digs, one assist and one ace on the night. Newcomer Jack Rooney (Lakeview, N.Y.) totaled six kills for a .333 hitting percentage, while freshman Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) totaled two kills, two aces, one solo block, two assisted blocks and four digs.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will travel to Rochester to play first-year program Roberts Wesleyan next Saturday, January 13 in a 1 PM match.

THE BUCKEYES
Perennial powerhouse Ohio State comes into the 2024 season ranked fifth in the National Collegiate AVCA Rankings. The Buckeyes posted a 23-10 record in 2023, winning the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) championship after posting a 11-3 record in regular season MIVA matches. OSU topped King University 3-0 in the NCAA play-in match, but fell 1-3 to Penn State in the NCAA quarterfinals and finished the 2023 season as the #6 ranked team in the nation. The Buckeyes return 13 players from last season's team, including 2024 Off The Block First Team preseason All-American senior outside Jacob Pasteur, who was also named the 2024 MIVA Preseason Player of the Year. 6-foot-4 Pasteur started 32 matches in 2023 for the Buckeyes, leading the team with 464 kills (3.90 kills/set), 202 digs (1.70 digs/set) and 40 aces and added 64 total blocks to his AVCA First Team All-American season. 6-foot-10 middle blocker Cole Young returns for his junior season after posting 207 kills with just 38 errors on 344 attacks for a team-high .491 hitting percentage and totaling 83 blocks in 2023. 6-foot-6 middle Justin Howard led the Buckeyes at the net with 85 total blocks. The Buckeyes utilized two setters last season, with 6-foot-4 redshirt senior Michael Wright appearing in 28 matches and totaling 805 assists (9.7 assists/set) and 6-foot-2 senior Noah Platfoot finishing with 549 assists (9.47 assists/set) over 20 matches.

SERIES HISTORY
This marks the first time in Daemen program history that the Wildcats are playing the Buckeyes.

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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