AMHERST, N.Y. -- After picking up a pair of Northeast Conference victories over Sacred Heart and Merrimack this weekend, the Daemen University men's volleyball team earns the program's first ever AVCA/NVA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Poll, coming in tied with UC San Diego at 20th in the nation. The Wildcats were receiving votes in the national poll after a 3-2 victory over #12 UC Santa Barbara but falling 3-0 to #2 Grand Canyon in the Harvard Invitational over the weekend of Feb. 2-3.
The Wildcats are 8-2 on the year and 3-0 in NEC play after this weekend's conference victories. Daemen topped Sacred Heart 3-1 on Friday in an exciting back-and-forth match where three Wildcats posted double-digit kills. Fifth year senior
Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) led all hitters, totaling 22 of Daemen's 52 kills on the day while senior opposite
Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) posted 11 kills for a .444 hitting percentage along with a team-high eight blocks and junior middle
Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) added 10 kills with just three errors to hit at a .438 clip. Fifth year setter
Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) totaled 45 assists (11.3 assists/set), seven digs and three block assists. On Saturday, the Wildcats won their fifth straight match with a 3-0 victory over Merrimack. Led by Schneider for the fifth match this season, the fifth year outside hitter totaled 16 kills for a .345 hitting percentage along with six digs. Freshman middle
Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) went six for six offensively for a perfect 1.0 hitting percentage, while O'Neill added nine kills on 11 attacks for a .818 clip. Califf ran the Wildcat offense with 32 assists and five digs while Daemen totaled 45 kills on 81 attacks for a .407 hitting percentage.
Daemen is ranked third in the latest Off The Block Division II Coaches Poll. The Wildcats welcome Fairleigh Dickinson and Long Island University to Lumsden Gymnasium this weekend for a pair of NEC matches. The Knights and Cats will match up on Friday at 6 PM, while the reigning NEC Tournament champs will play at Daemen on Saturday at 1 PM.
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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