AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen University men's volleyball team won their seventh straight match and their fifth Northeast Conference match of the season, topping the LIU Sharks 3-0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-22) on Saturday afternoon. Coming into the weekend tied for 20th in the AVCA/NVA National Top-20 poll, the Wildcats move to 10-2 on the year and 5-0 in NEC play, while the Sharks drop to 4-11 overall and 1-3 in conference.
 
It was a back-and-forth match from the start, with the reigning NEC Tournament champion Sharks taking a lead over Daemen late in the first, but after mounting a comeback and winning five of the final eight points, the Wildcats won the first set and would not concede a single set in the 3-set sweep. The Wildcats finished with 44 kills and just nine attack errors on 85 attacks in the sweep for an impressive .412 hitting percentage while holding the Sharks to hitting at a .298 clip in the match. The Daemen duo of fifth year outside hitter Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) and while senior opposite Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) again led the Wildcats to victory, with Schneider posting a team-high 14 kills while Milligan finished with 12 on the day. LIU junior outside hitter Gio Collazo led all players with 15 kills on the floor.
 
The Wildcats will head across town next Thursday, Feb. 28 to play D'Youville in a 6 PM match.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS

• Schneider finished with 14 kills and four errors on 31 attacks for a .323 hitting percentage, adding two digs, one ace and one block assist for 15.5 points on the day.
• Milligan totaled 12 kills and just one error to hit at a .611 clip, while posting eight digs, one ace, one assist and one block assist to finish with 13.5 points.
• Freshman middle Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) finished with eight kills on 12 attacks and zero errors for a team-high .667 hitting percentage, adding two aces, two block assists, one solo block and two digs to total 12 points.
• Fifth year setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) finished with 36 assists (12 assists/set), seven digs, one block assist and one kill.
• Junior outside hitter Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) totaled five kills for a .250 hitting percentage, six digs and one ace. 

• The Wildcats broke into the AVCA/NVA National MVB Top-20 poll for the first time in program history this week, coming in tied at 20th in Division I men's volleyball. Daemen remains ranked third in the weekly Off The Block Division II Coaches Poll.
• Daemen got out to a 5-2 start in the first, knocking down four kills and tallying an ace to open the set. LIU then went on an 8-3 run with five kills of their own to take a 10-8 lead over the Cats. The Sharks had a three-point lead late in the set, 18-15, but the Wildcats went on a 7-4 run after kills from Milligan and Arabasz to tie the game up at 22 a piece. From there, it was a race to the finish, with Daemen winning five of the last eight points and three in a row to end the set, 27-25 after an Arabasz service ace to take a 26-25 lead and a Schneider kill to win the first. Schneider led the Wildcats with five kills in the first while Milligan went three for three for a perfect 1.00 hitting percentage.
• The second set was back-and-forth from the jump. After LIU tied it up at 15, the Wildcats took advantage of a trio of Shark errors and went on a 5-2 run, taking a 20-17 lead. Despite the Sharks bringing the set within one, 20-19, the Wildcats never conceded the lead, with Milligan, Arabasz and Schneider knocking down three kills in the final five points to win the second set, 25-20. Schneider tallied four kills with zero attacks on seven attacks in the second set. Daemen hit .458 in the second set with 14 kills and three errors on 24 attacks.
• After trading points for the first half of the third set, the Wildcats tied it up at 15, and never trailed from there, going on a 6-1 run – complete with a pair of kills from both Arabasz and Milligan and one from Schneider – to take a 20-16 lead. With two LIU kills and a service ace, the Sharks made it a two-point game, but the Wildcats finished the third set off 25-22 after the Sharks totaled two service errors in the final three points of the game. The Wildcats posted a .467 hitting percentage in the third set, totaling 16 kills and two errors on 30 attacks. Schneider finished with six third-set kills, while Milligan added five kills on 10 attacks in the set.