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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
Arabasz service
Geoff Schneider
1
Merrimack Merri 8-15,3-8 NEC
3
Winner Daemen Daemen 17-6,8-3 NEC
Merrimack Merri
8-15,3-8 NEC
1
Final
3
Daemen Daemen
17-6,8-3 NEC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Merrimack Merri 21 16 26 14 (1)
Daemen Daemen 25 25 24 25 (3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball | | CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

Three Wildcats Post Double-Digit Kills In 3-1 Win Over Merrimack

AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen University men's volleyball team won their fourth straight match with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 24-26, 25-14) win over Merrimack College on Friday night to move to 17-6 on the year and 8-3 in Northeast Conference play. The Wildcats remain second in the conference heading into their final regular season match of the year on Saturday.
 
Daemen finished with 54 kills and just 13 errors on 93 attacks for a .441 hitting percentage in the win, while holding Merrimack to 32 kills for just .146. A trio of Wildcats posted double-digit kills, with fifth year outside hitter Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) leading all players with 15 kills. Freshman middle blocker Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) finished with 12 kills, while senior opposite Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) totaled 10.

The Wildcats will wrap up the 2024 regular season on Saturday as they host Sacred Heart at 4 PM at Lumsden Gymnasium. Daemen will honor three players for Senior Day celebrations -- Sean Califf, Michael Krueger and Cameron Milligan -- ahead of the match. 
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Schneider finished with 15 kills and four errors on 27 attacks for a .407 hitting percentage, adding seven digs, one ace, one solo block and two block assists for a match-high 18 points.
  • After breaking Daemen's single-season block record last weekend, Arabasz finished with 12 kills and zero errors on 14 attacks to hit at a team-high .857 clip. The freshman phenom added one solo block and two block assists.
  • Playing in his second-to-last home game of his collegiate career, Milligan totaled 10 kills with one error on 18 attacks for a .500 hitting percentage. The senior added five digs and one assist on the night.
  • Fifth year senior setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) finished with 39 assists (9.75 assists/set) and tied a single-season record four kills on four attacks for a 1.00 clip, adding three digs, one ace and one block assist.
  •  Junior middle blocker Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) totaled eight kills, three digs, two solo blocks and one block assist.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • The Wildcats and Warriors traded points early, with neither team earning more than two points in a row to open the first. After Merrimack took an 8-7 lead, Daemen won four straight to jump out to 11-8, taking advantage of three straight attack errors from the Warriors. Merrimack won five of the next six points to lead 13-12, and from there both teams were even for the next 10 points to keep the match within one point with the Warriors on top, 18-17. Daemen would score three unanswered points after a kill by O'Neill and an ace from Califf to take a two-point lead, but a pair of Daemen errors tied the game up at 20. The Wildcats won five of the final six points after tallying three kills from Schneider and Milligan to take the first, 25-21.
  • After a close first set, the Wildcats jumped out to a lead and never trailed in the second. In a heavy-hitting second set, the Wildcats tallied 10 kills in their first 15 points of the second, committing just two errors while leading 15-9. Daemen finished off the set on a 10-7 run after seven second-set kills from Califf, O'Neill, Arabasz, Schneider and Milligan who earned the set-clinching kill for the second straight set. Daemen won the set 25-16 and hit .583 while totaling 16 kills.
  • Daemen and Merrimack opened the third trading points to 8 when the Warriors scored four unanswered points to jump out to a 12-8 lead. From there, Daemen turned the tide and scored five of the next six off kills from Milligan, Schneider and Arabasz to tie it up at 13. Daemen went on another run, 6-1, to lead 19-15, but Merrimack would go on a 6-1 run of their own to take a 21-20 advantage. The Warriors would lead 24-22 after two Daemen errors, but facing set point the Wildcats won the next two points off an Arabasz kill and a Schneider ace to tie it at 24. Merrimack won the final two points off a kill and a Daemen attack error to win the third set, 26-24.
  • The Wildcats opened the fourth on a roll, jumping out to a 10-5 lead after posting five kills early. Daemen maintained a healthy lead throughout the rest of the set, leading by as much as 10 in the fourth. The Cats posted 13 kills with zero errors on 17 attacks for a .765 hitting percentage in the fourth set, and Schneider led Daemen with five kills in the final set.
  • Both teams had serving issues tonight, combining for 45 service errors in the match.
  • Daemen is 4-0 all-time against the Warriors.
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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