Men's Volleyball Resumes NEC Play At Saint Francis This Weekend

3/21/2024 3:32:00 PM

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

BACK IN ACTION
The Daemen University men's volleyball team returns to the court after a week-long break to resume Northeast Conference play against the Saint Francis Red Flash. The Wildcats come into this weekend's double header with a 13-3 overall record and a 6-0 record in NEC play, while the Red Flash sits at 12-8 on the year and 4-0 in conference matches.

BIG WEEKEND
Daemen and Saint Francis are the only two undefeated teams left in the conference. The Red Flash was the only team to sweep the Wildcats in the 2023 season. SFU handed Daemen their first NEC loss in the first meeting between the two teams, snapping the Wildcats' 16-match home win streak which was the second-longest active win streak in NCAA Division I-II men's volleyball with a 3-2 victory over the Cats. The Red Flash topped Daemen 3-1 in the regular season finale to win the very first NEC regular season title and hosted the inaugural NEC championship tournament. The Wildcats are 0-4 against Saint Francis all-time. The Red Flash are one of two teams that Daemen has played more than once and never beaten in program history.

LAST GAMES
The Wildcats swept Thomas More and Tusculum in a pair of 3-0 non-conference games on March 5 and 8. In Tuesday's match against the Saints, senior opposite Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) led all players on the court offensively, totaling 14 kills with just one error on 20 attacks for a .650 hitting percentage in the win. The Wildcats posted 32 kills with 8 errors on 63 attacks for a .381 clip and held Thomas More to a .083 hitting percentage after the Saints totaled 29 kills with 22 errors. Senior setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) totaled 29 assists, three digs, three block assists and one ace. Freshman middle Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) went four of eight with two errors for a .250 hitting percentage, adding three block assists, one solo block, one dig and one ace on the night. Daemen followed up with another 3-0 victory over Tusculum on Friday night, winning their seventh non-conference match of the season. A pair of upperclassmen Wildcats totaled double-digit kills on the night, with senior opposite Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) and fifth year outside Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) each posting 11 kills in the win. Daemen finished the night out-hitting Tusculum 42 to 27, hitting at a .429 clip in the win after tallying just nine errors on 77 attacks. Califf totaled 31 assists (10.3 assists/set) on the night, adding six digs, two kills, one ace and one solo block.

WEEKLY HONORS
After averaging 4.16 kills per set for a .625 hitting percentage, Milligan was the fourth straight Daemen player to be named the First Point/NEC Player of the Week. Milligan added eight digs, four aces, two blocks and two assists on the week. On the year, Milligan ranks second on the team in kills (3.06 kills/set) and ranks fifth in the league with a .320 hitting percentage while leading the Wildcats with 25 aces on the year (0.52 aces/set, second in the NEC). The senior, who has started in 15 of Daemen's 16 matches on the year, averages 3.97 points per set (sixth in the NEC). Schneider also earned weekly awards from the conference, picking up his fifth straight Prime Performer honor of the season. The graduate outside hitter totaled 21 kills (3.5 kills/set), 12 digs (2 digs/set), three blocks and two aces on the week. Daemen's February Male Athlete of the Month, Schneider leads the team in kills with 3.88 kills per set (third in the NEC) and ranks second on the team with 18 service aces. He ranks third in the conference in points (4.4 points per set) and sixth with a .303 hitting percentage on the year.

STAT CATS
Over halfway through the 2024 season, the Wildcats rank atop the NEC in points (16.08 per set), hitting percentage (.328), opponent hitting percentage (.194), assists (11.04 per set), kills (12.22 per set), opponent blocks (1.25 per set) and opponent digs (7.48 per set), while ranking second in the league in blocks, aces, digs, opponent kills, opponent service aces and opponent assists. Schneider ranks third in the league in kills (3.88/set) and points (4.44/set), sixth in hitting percentage (.303) and eighth in service aces (0.37/set). Milligan ranks fifth in the league in hitting percentage (.320) and points (3.97/set), seventh in kills (3.06/set), second in aces (0.52/set) and ninth in blocks (0.69/set). Arabasz leads the league in blocks (0.92 blocks/set), while junior middle Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) is fourth in the league (0.78/set). Califf ranks second in the league with 9.65 assists per set and ranks fourth in digs (2.0 digs/set), while graduate libero Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) ranks third in digs (2.02 digs/set), and junior outside hitter Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) ranks 10th in the league with a .269 hitting percentage.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats travel down to play at LIU on March 29 and FDU on March 30 for a pair of NEC matches.

THE RED FLASH
Saint Francis comes into this weekend's doubleheader with a 12-8 overall record while sitting atop the NEC standings with Daemen with a 4-0 record in conference games. The Red Flash put together a gauntlet of a non-conference schedule, taking on #5 Ohio State, #3 UC Irvine and #2 Long Beach State to open the season. SFU did a home-and-home with #10 Penn State last weekend, and fell 2-3 in both games against the Nittany Lions. Saint Francis statistically sits second in the league behind Daemen in points (15.34/set), hitting percentage (.293), assists (10.89/set), kills (11.69/set), opponent hitting percentage (.206) while leading the league in aces (2.07/set), opponent kills (9.42/set) and opponent assists (8.95/set). 6-foot-7 junior opposite Nathan Zini leads the Red Flash with 3.53 kills/set (fifth in the NEC) and hits at a .320 clip (fourth in the league) while also leading the team with 45 service aces (0.62 aces/set). 6-3 senior setter Ryan Parker ranks fifth in the league with 9.13 assists per set and is second on the team with 28 aces (0.42 aces/set) and 42 total blocks (0.63 blocks/set). 6-foot-5 junior outside hitter Andrew Deardorff is second on the team offensively, adding 2.75 kills/set, 71 digs (1.16 digs/set) and 27 blocks (0.44 blocks/set).

SERIES HISTORY
The Red Flash have won all four matches played against Daemen and are one of just two teams that Daemen has played multiple times and never beaten.

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.

Print Friendly Version