Geoff Schneider

Men's Volleyball Wraps Up NEC Regular Season With Home Matches Against Merrimack, Sacred Heart

4/11/2024 6:30:00 PM

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

REGULAR SEASON WRAP UP
The Daemen University men's volleyball team closes out their 2024 regular season slate this weekend as they host a pair of Northeast Conference matches. The Wildcats, who come into the final regular season weekend with a 16-6 overall record and 7-3 record in conference matches, will host the Merrimack Warriors (8-14 overall, 3-7 NEC) on Friday night at 6 PM and close out their 2024 home schedule with a 4 PM match against the Sacred Heart Pioneers (10-18 overall, 2-8 NEC) on Senior Day.

WEEKEND SWEEP
Daemen swept first-year program Roberts Wesleyan in both match ups last week to move to 16-6 on the year. The Wildcats traveled to Rochester, N.Y. on Thursday where they topped the Redhawks 3-0 after out-hitting 32 to 23 on the night for a .364 clip while holding Roberts to a -.013 hitting percentage in the match. Eight Wildcats recorded kills in the win, with senior opposite Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) leading the Wildcats on the night with seven kills. Junior outside hitter Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) added six kills on the night. Graduate student Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) set for Daemen and finished with a double-double (assists-digs) with 26 assists (8.6 assists/set) and 10 digs along with three block assists. Daemen followed up with another 3-0 win in the match on Saturday after 11 Wildcats combined for 35 kills for a .525 hitting percentage. The Redhawks totaled 20 kills for a .042 clip. Junior middle Ethan Sturm (Lisle, Ill.) led Daemen with six kills, sophomore Johnaustin Bly (Lancaster, N.Y.) added five kills for the Wildcats and three players tallied four kills each.

NEC HONORS
Sturm and Krueger picked up NEC Prime Performer honors for their efforts over the weekend. Sturm, who earned conference honors for the first time in his career, totaled 11 kills with zero errors on 16 attacks for a .691 hitting percentage while playing in two of three sets in both matches. The junior added three digs, two blocks and one assist over the weekend. Krueger earned his second NEC Prime Performer award of the season after totaling 18 digs (3 digs/set), 46 assists (7.6 assists/set) and four blocks over two wins.

SINGLE-SEASON RECORD
Freshman middle blocker Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) broke Daemen's single-season block record (64) set in the 2023 season by graduate student Henry Moffitt. Arabasz came into last week's matches needing just one block to tie the record and finished with five total blocks, posting two in the Thursday match against the Redhawks on Friday night to break the single-season record, and adding three more assisted blocks on Saturday. Arabasz also recorded seven kills and went four-for-four on Saturday afternoon while adding an ace and a dig. On the year, the freshman leads the Wildcats at the net with 68 total blocks and leads the league with 0.94 blocks per set after playing in 72 of Daemen's 75 sets this season while totaling 10 solo blocks and 58 assisted blocks. He has posted multiple blocks in 19 of Daemen's 22 matches on the year, and ranks third on the team in kills (116) and leads the team with a .468 hitting percentage.

BLOCK PARTY
Three Wildcats rank in the NEC top-10 in blocks, with Arabasz leading the conference with 0.94 blocks per set. Junior Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) ranks fourth in the league with 0.91 blocks per set and ranks second on the team with 49 total blocks, while Milligan ranks third on the team in total blocks (44) and 10th in the conference with 0.66 blocks/set. The big blocking front have the Wildcats ranked second in the NEC in blocks (2.17 blocks/set), totaling 163 blocks this season.

THANK YOU, SENIORS
Three Wildcats -- Sean Califf, Michael Kreuger and Cameron Milligan -- will be honored in their final home game on Saturday afternoon.

Califf, a fifth-year setter from Oak Park, Ill., has played his final two seasons of eligibility as a Daemen Wildcat after transferring from Purdue Fort Wayne and made an immediate impact on the team. Earning First Team All-NEC honors as a senior in 2023, Califf broke Daemen's single-season assist record with 779 total assists and set the Daemen record for assists in a five-set match (57 vs. Sacred Heart on Feb. 19, 2023) as well as the assists in a three-set match record (39 vs. LIU on April 20, 2023). As a fifth-year senior, Califf has started 19 of Daemen's 22 matches this year and totaled 607 assists, ranking third in the NEC with 9.34 assists/set and fifth in the league with 1.94 digs/set after totaling 126 digs (2nd-most on the team). He has 37 total blocks on the year, 15 aces and 27 kills. This season, Califf has set Daemen to a league-highs in points (15.87/set), kills (12.03/set) and a .318 hitting percentage. In his two-year career with the Wildcats, Califf has racked up 1,420 assists (9.22 assists/set), 285 digs (1.85 digs/set), 77 blocks, 65 kills and 31 aces after playing in 153 sets over 43 matches.

A key part of Daemen's team since the very start, Krueger finishes his six-year Daemen career with many records, including single-season sets played (83 in 2019), four of the top five program records for assists in a single season, three of the top four records for assists per set in a season, as well as ranking third all-time for digs in a single season (150 in 2019) and second all-time for digs per set (1.81 in 2019). Krueger ranks in the top ten in the program for service aces (T-6 with 22 in 2022, 8th with 19 in 2019), service aces per set (T-3 with 0.43 in 2022). He set all of Daemen's records for assists in three, four and five set matches after serving as the program's first-ever setter, and his four-set assist record still stands. Krueger is still tied for the most digs in a five set match (18). In his six seasons at Daemen, Krueger has appeared in a program-record 328 sets over 99 matches and racked up 1,994 total assists for an average of 6.08 assists/set, along with 498 total digs (1.52 digs/set), 65 aces, 75 kills and 95 total blocks. Serving as Daemen's starting libero for the majority of the season, the graduate student leads the team with 134 digs and ranks third in the league with 2.44 digs/set.

Milligan has played a pivotal role for the Wildcats over his four-year Daemen career. After picking up Second Team All-NEC honors in his junior season, Milligan has ranked second on the team offensively in each of his last three seasons to total 641 kills, 257 digs, 85 aces and 112 blocks over the course of his career -- 257 sets in 78 total matches. The senior has started in 20 of Daemen's 22 total matches this season and totaled 207 kills, ranking sixth in the league with 3.09 kills/set. His .334 hitting percentage ranks fourth in the league after tallying 207 kills on 437 attacks, and he ranks third in the NEC in aces (0.48/set) after totaling a team-high 28. Milligan also ranks sixth in the league in points per set (3.90) and 10th in the NEC in blocks (0.66/set), ranking third on the team with 44 total blocks on the year. Milligan's 78 matches ranks third all-time in the Daemen career record books and 257 sets played is fourth all-time. He ranks second in the record books for career kills (641), behind only Schneider's 1,000+ kill mark.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats, who are the second-place team in the NEC coming into the final weekend of regular season play, will travel to Loretto, Pa. to play in the second NEC Tournament next week, hosted by regular season champs Saint Francis for the second straight year.

THE WARRIORS
Playing in their inaugural season in 2023, Merrimack posted a 10-16 overall record and went 4-10 in NEC play, finishing sixth in the conference to advance to the first ever NEC Tournament where they fell 1-3 to eventual champions LIU in the quarterfinals. Merrimack put together a tough 2024 schedule, playing four nationally-ranked teams in their first five matches of the season. The Warriors come into the final weekend of regular season play with an 8-14 overall record and sit fifth in the league with a 3-7 record in NEC play. 6-foot-4 sophomore outside Logan Whitaker leads the Warriors with 277 kills on the year and ranks fifth in the league with 3.69 kills/set. Whitaker leads the team with 29 aces and ranks fifth with 0.39 aces/set in the NEC, and ranks third on the team with 32 total blocks. 6-foot-9 senior middle blocker Matthew Motes ranks second in the league with a .365 hitting percentage after tallying 165 kills and leads the Warriors at the net with 44 total blocks. Sophomore libero Kyle Standage leads the league with 2.99 digs/set (227 total digs). Freshmen outside hitters Isaiah and Kai Vogel combine for 250 kills, with Isaiah starting in 19 of 22 total matches and totaling 138 kills, 103 digs and 21 aces, while Kai has played in 16 matches and has 112 kills, 63 digs and 14 blocks.

SERIES HISTORY
Daemen is 3-0 all-time against Merrimack and swept the Warriors 3-0 on the road earlier this season.

THE PIONEERS
Picked fourth in the NEC Preseason Coaches Poll, Sacred Heart finished with a 12-13 season in 2023 and posted a 7-7 record in the inaugural NEC season, finishing fourth in the conference to advance to the first NEC Tournament where they topped #5 St. Francis Brooklyn 3-0 in the quarterfinals but fell to NEC regular season champs Saint Francis in the semifinals. The Pioneers come into the weekend with a 10-18 overall record and sit sixth in the league with a 2-8 record in NEC play. Sacred Heart averages 11.9 kills per set this season and is led by 6-foot-5 opposite Patrick Mucherino who has totaled 390 kills and ranks second in the league with 4.15 kills/set. Mucherino has totaled 132 digs (1.40 digs/set) and ranks second on the team with 37 blocks. 6-foot-5 senior outside hitter Carlos Santa Cruz ranks seventh in the league with a .276 hitting percentage and ranks second on the team with 2.83 kills/set (266 total) and a team-high 25 aces. 6-foot-2 senior setter Teddy Payne runs the Pioneer offense with a league-high 9.74 assists per set after totaling 682 assists.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats own a 3-1 record over the Pioneers, picking up a 3-1 win at Sacred Heart in their conference opener in February.

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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