Nationally Ranked Opponents On Tap For Men's Volleyball In Massachusetts Road Trip

The Wildcats Will Face #12 UC Santa Barbara, #2 Grand Canyon and AIC Over The Weekend

2/1/2024 2:10:00 PM

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

ROAD TRIP
The Daemen University men's volleyball hits the road this weekend for three games in Massachusetts. The Wildcats will face a tough test on the campus of Harvard in Cambridge, Mass., first taking on #12 UC Santa Barbara on Friday in a 4 PM match up, then taking on #2 ranked Grand Canyon on Saturday at 5 PM. Daemen will stop in Springfield, Mass. on Sunday for a 1 PM match at American International to wrap up the trip.

LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
The Wildcats picked up a non-conference sweep over NAIA member Warner University 3-0 last Thursday, Jan. 25 to move to 2-1 on the young season. Daemen out-killed Warner 30 to 14 in the victory and finishing with a .377 hitting percentage, with junior outside hitter Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) leading the charge with a team-high eight kills for a .429 hitting percentage. Freshman middle Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) tallied a season-high six kills with two errors on 10 attacks while hitting at a .400 clip. Wieberg and Arabasz were the only two hitters to play all three sets in the match against the Royals. A trio of Wildcats in outsides Jake Basinski (Eden, N.Y.) and Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) along with middle Ethan Sturm (Lisle, Ill.) each finished with four kills, while fifth year setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) played all three sets and finished with 20 assists.

STAT CATS
Through three matches this season, the Wildcats are averaging 9.9 kills per set with a .315 hitting percentage, while holding their opponents to hitting at a .085 clip. Daemen is excelling at the net this year, totaling 22.5 blocks with just two blocking errors to average 2.3 blocks per set. As the top two hitters on last season's 17-7 team, senior opposite Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) and fifth year outside hitter Zach Schneider lead the Wildcats this season with a team-high 16 kills a piece, starting in all three matches. A 2023 AVCA Honorable Mention All-America awardee and the first ever Northeast Conference Player of the Year in 2023, Schneider is tied with three other Wildcats for team-high four aces this season, while Milligan has three aces on the year but ranks second on the team in blocks. Arabasz has made his presence known at the net, totaling 10 blocks this season with a team-high nine block assists and adds 11 kills for a .500 hitting percentage and four aces this season. Wieberg has made a splash in his junior campaign, starting in two of the three matches on the year and ranking second on the team with 14 kills for a .417 hitting percentage. 2023 First Team All-NEC setter Califf averages 6.86 assists per set (48 total assists) after playing in two matches this season for the Wildcats.

BIG COMPETITION
The Wildcats will play their eighth and ninth match against AVCA ranked opponents this weekend, and face a top-five opponent for the second time this season and the fourth time in program history. In Daemen's 2024 season opener against Ohio State, the Wildcats earned their first ever set victory over a top-five team, taking the first set over the Buckeyes 25-14. Ohio State would go on to win the close matchup 3-1 on Jan. 7. Saturday's match against #2 Grand Canyon will be the second time in program history that the Wildcats face the #2 team in the nation. Daemen previously took on #2 UCLA in their 2020 season opener. The last time the Wildcats faced the #12 ranked team in the nation, they came out away with a 3-2 victory over #12 CSUN last season, marking the program's first ever win over a nationally ranked team.

LAST WEEKEND BEFORE CONFERENCE
This weekend's matches are the Wildcats' final non-conference matches before Daemen opens up Northeast Conference play next Thursday against D'Youville. The Wildcats finished 11-3 in the inaugural NEC season in 2023, finishing second to Sacred Heart in the regular season. Daemen fell to eventual tournament champion LIU 3-0 in the first ever NEC tournament semifinals. The Wildcats placed four on NEC All-Conference teams, with Schneider and Califf earning First Team honors and Milligan and graduate middle Henry Moffitt earning Second Team All-NEC honors. Daemen was picked second in the NEC Preseason Coaches Poll for the 2024 season.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will host D'Youville in their 2024 NEC opener on Thursday, Feb. 8 in a 6 PM match at Lumsden Gymnasium.

THE GAUCHOS
Ranked #12 in the nation, UC Santa Barbara comes into this weekend with a 3-6 record on the heels of a 1-3 loss at #16 Princeton on Wednesday night. The Gauchos snapped a five-match skid against top-10 ranked teams last Thursday with a huge 3-2 victory at #2 UCLA, which was just the second loss for the Bruins all season. The victory elevated UCSB up to #12 from #17 in the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Poll. Averaging 11.9 kills per set on the season, UC Santa Barbara is led offensively by 6-foot-6 redshirt junior opposite Geste Bianchi with 166 kills this season, averaging 4.74 kills per set. As the Gauchos' go-to weapon, Bianchi totaled 20+ kills in four matches this year, including 27 against the Bruins on Jan. 25, and also leads the team with 17 aces this season while ranking second at the net with 19 blocks. 6-foot-4 redshirt sophomore outside Ben Coordt adds 2.18 kills/set for UCSB. Jack Walmer, a redshirt junior setter, runs the Gaucho offense with 9.84 assists per set and leads the team with 60 digs (1.58 digs/set) along with 17 blocks. 6-foot-9 freshman middle Josh Aruya leads the team with 28 blocks and adds 1.34 kills/set. Friday night will be the first time the Wildcats and Gauchos meet on the court.

THE ANTELOPES
Grand Canyon comes into Saturday's match ranked #2 in the nation with a perfect 7-0 record on the year. The Lopes have handled business this season, giving up just three set losses all season, including dropping a set at fellow NEC member Merrimack in their 3-1 win over the Warriors on Wednesday. Boasting 12.3 kills per set with a .363 hitting percentage on the year, 6-foot-5 redshirt senior opposite Camden Gianni leads the Lopes with 3.21 kills per set while hitting at a .339 clip on the season, a team-high 18 aces and 12 total blocks. 6-foot-4 redshirt senior outside Jackson Hickman averages 3.08 kills per set for a .398 hitting percentage on the year. 6-foot-4 sophomore middle Cameron Thorne leads the team with 24 blocks, posting 1 block per set. Grand Canyon will face Harvard on Friday night prior to Saturday's match with the Wildcats. This will be the first time that Daemen and GCU face off.

THE YELLOWJACKETS
Playing in their third season, Springfield opened the 2024 season with a victory for the first time, topping Regis 3-2 in their season opener on Jan. 11. From there, AIC dropped non-conference matches against NEC opponents D'Youville (0-3), Daemen (0-3) and Merrimack (0-3). The Yellowjackets return 12 players from last season's team that finished with a 2-22 record, including outside hitter John Rivera Ortiz who led the team with 175 kills (3.07 kills/set) and sophomore outside hitter Robert Santana who totaled 152 kills (2.11 kills/set) and a team-high 106 digs (1.47 digs/set) in 2023. Santana leads the way this season with 29 kills, followed closely by Rivera Ortiz with 22. Sophomore middle Collin Doyle leads the Yellowjackets with 11 blocks this season.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats have played AIC twice in each season of AIC's existence. Daemen is 5-0 in the series history, and topped the Yellowjackets 3-0 in the first meeting of the season (Jan. 20).

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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