Geoff Schneider

Men's Volleyball Plays At D'Youville, Hosts Harvard This Week

2/28/2024 3:59:00 PM

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

MATCH DAY
The Daemen University men's volleyball team will play a pair of matches this week, first traveling across town to play at D'Youville University on Thursday, Feb. 29 for a 6 PM match against the Saints, then returning to Lumsden Gymnasium to host Harvard University on Friday, March 1 at 6 PM. The Wildcats come into the week ranked No. 20 in the AVCA National Men's Volleyball Poll with a 10-2 record and a perfect 5-0 record in Northeast Conference play. D'Youville is 6-4 on the year and 1-4 in NEC matches, while Harvard is 6-5 overall and 3-1 in Ivy League play. Harvard was originally scheduled to play at Daemen on Jan. 18, but inclement weather in WNY postponed the match to this Friday.

POLL POSITION
After earning the program's first ever AVCA Top-20 ranking last week, the Wildcats remain ranked No. 20 in the Week 8 Division I men's volleyball poll. Daemen is also ranked No. 2 in the latest Off The Block Division II National Coaches Poll, moving up from third from last week's rankings. The Wildcats have been included in 34 straight OTB polls.

LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
The Wildcats picked up a pair of Northeast Conference wins over FDU and LIU, the Wildcats sit at 10-2 on the year and 5-0 in NEC play and are riding a seven-match win streak. Daemen topped the Knights 3-1 on Friday night, finishing with 48 kills with 16 errors on 97 attacks for a .330 hitting percentage over FDU on Friday. As it has been throughout the season, the Wildcat duo of Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) and Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) led the way for Daemen, with the pair combining for 28 kills in the victory. Schneider posted 17 kills and six errors on 30 attacks for a .367 hitting percentage tonight along with eight digs, while Milligan totaled 11 kills with four errors on 27 attacks to hit at a .259 clip in the match with a match-high four aces. Freshman middle Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) finished with nine kills on 15 attacks with three errors for a .400 hitting percentage, junior outside hitter Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) finished with six kills and zero errors on 13 attacks for a .462 hitting percentage and fifth year setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) totaled 38 assists (9.5 assists/set) and eight digs. On Saturday, Daemen swept LIU, 3-0. 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 Schneider and Milligan again led the Wildcats to victory, with Schneider posting a team-high 14 kills while Milligan finished with 12 on the day.

WEEKLY AWARDS
After helping Daemen to a 2-0 week, Schneider, Arabasz and Califf picked up NEC weekly awards. Schneider was named the First Point/NEC Player of the Week for the second straight week after averaging 4.4 kills/set for a .345 hitting percentage while adding 10 digs, three aces, five block assists and one solo block. Arabasz earned his second Rookie of the Week award after totaling 17 kills to hit at a .535 clip along with eight blocks, two aces and two digs. Califf was named an NEC Prime Performer for the third straight week. The fifth year totaled 15 digs, three blocks, and averaged 10.6 assists per set after totaling 74 assists on the week.

CONFERENCE DOMINATION
For the second straight season, the Wildcats opened NEC with a perfect 5-0 record, picking up wins over D'Youville, Sacred Heart, Merrimack, FDU and LIU to open the first half of conference play. Daemen leads the league in points (16.07 per set), hitting percentage (.324), opponent hitting percentage (.194), opponent blocks (1.34 per set), opponent service aces (1.07 per set) and opponent digs (7.27 per set). On the year, Schneider ranks second in the league in kills (3.86 per set) and points (4.46 per set), third in the conference with 0.42 aces per set and sixth in the NEC with a .306 hitting percentage. Junior middle Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) ranks fourth in the league in hitting percentage (.308) and blocks (28 total, 0.82 blocks/set). Milligan ranks second in the NEC with 0.54 aces per set, sixth in points (3.83 per set) and eighth in the league in kills (2.86 per set). Califf ranks second with 9.57 assists per set and third with 2.06 digs per set, while graduate student Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) ranks fourth in digs (1.94 per set). Since the beginning of the 2023 season, the Wildcats are 16-3 in NEC play.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will host their final two non-conference matches of the season next week, taking on Thomas More on Tuesday at 6 PM and Tusculum on Friday at 6 PM.

THE SAINTS
After a 4-0 start to the season, D'Youville opened up NEC play with four straight losses to Daemen, Merrimack, Sacred Heart and LIU, but picked up their first conference win of the season on Saturday with a 3-1 win over FDU to move to 6-4 overall and 1-4 in NEC play. Averaging a league-high 12.37 kills per set, the Saints are led offensively by the trio of 6-foot-3 sophomore middle blocker Haven Wankerl, 6-foot-5 junior middle blocker Tymek Brzoza, and 6-foot-7 sophomore opposite Shaun Vattakuzhiyil. Wankerl leads the league on the year with a .387 hitting percentage and averages 2.23 kills per set. Vattakuzhiyil ranks fifth in the league with 3.39 kills per set and ninth in the league with a .282 hitting percentage, while Brzoza ranks 10th in the league with a .270 hitting percentage and 2.49 kills per set.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 9-1 all-time against D'Youville. Daemen has won the last nine meetings between the two teams.

THE CRIMSON
Harvard comes into Friday's match with a 6-5 overall record and 3-1 record in EIVA play. The Crimson loaded up their 2024 schedule with ranked opponents, falling to #12 USC, #18 CSUN, #2 Grand Canyon, #12 UCSB and #14 Princeton this season. Harvard topped Princeton 3-1 on Saturday to split the series with the 14th ranked Tigers, and have won five of their last six matches. Three Crimson players lead the way offensively for this Harvard team that averages 10.5 kills per set. 6-foot-7 junior outside hitter Owen Fanning leads the team with 2.37 kills per set while 6-foot-4 junior outside Logan Shepard and 6-foot-6 sophomore outside Zach Berty add 2.05 and 2.02 kills per set, respectively. 6-foot-7 junior setter James Bardin runs the Crimson offense with 8.35 assists/set and ranks second on the team in both digs (1.41 per set) and blocks (29 total). 6-foot-7 junior middle blocker Ethan Smith leads Harvard at the net with 36 total blocks and has recorded multiple blocks in seven of the 10 matches he's played in.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats and Crimson are 1-1 all-time, with Daemen coming away with the 3-1 win over Harvard in Cambridge in 2023.

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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