AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen University men's volleyball team completed their second sweep over Roberts Wesleyan University, 3-0 (25-18, 25-8, 25-15) in their final non-conference match of the season on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats move to 16-6 overall on the year with the win and beat the Redhawks twice in three days.
Daemen out-hit Roberts Wesleyan 35-20 in the match and finished with a season-high .525 hitting percentage while holding the Redhawks to hitting just .042 in the match. 11 Wildcats recorded kills in the win, with junior middle
Ethan Sturm (Lisle, Ill.) leading Daemen with six kills. Sophomore
Johnaustin Bly (Lancaster, N.Y.) totaled five kills for the Wildcats while three players tallied four kills each.
The Wildcats return to Northeast Conference play next weekend for their final two matches of the regular season. Daemen will host Merrimack on Friday at 6 PM and Sacred Heart on Saturday at 4 PM.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Sturm finished with six kills and zero errors on nine attacks for a .667 hitting percentage while adding one assist.
- Bly was one of three players to appear in all three sets tonight and totaled five kills on seven attacks to hit at a .571 clip. The sophomore added seven digs, one block assist and two assists.
- Junior Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) and freshmen Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) and Jack Rooney (Lakeview, N.Y.) each finished with four kills. Wieberg hit .333 on the night and added five digs and one ace. Arabasz was four for four to hit 1.00 and added three block assists, one ace and one dig and broke Daemen's single season block record (65) with his three blocks on the night. Rooney tallied four kills on five attacks for a .800 hitting percentage and added one ace and one dig.
- Graduate student Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) and fifth year Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) split setting duties tonight, with Califf setting the first and finishing with 10 assists, one kill, two digs and one block assist, and Krueger tallying 20 assists, eight digs and one block assist on the night.
- Senior Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) and sophomore Kyle Zelasko (West Seneca, N.Y.) each tallied three kills and two aces a piece. Zelasko added four digs, one block assist and one assist to his stat line.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Redhawks scored the first two points of the match and after trading points from there, Daemen took their first lead of the set, 7-6, after capitalizing on Roberts errors. The Wildcats then went on a 10-6 run to jump out to a 17-13 lead and closed out the set winning eight of the last 13 points to take the first 25-18. Daemen tallied 11 kills in the first and hit .360 in the set.
- Daemen and Roberts traded points to open the second and after a 6-4 lead, the Wildcats won the next six points to take a 12-4 advantage. The Wildcats went on a 12-2 run to end the set 25-8. Daemen allowed Roberts to have just three second-set kills as the Redhawks finished with a -.238 hitting percentage in the set.
- The Wildcats handled the third set with ease, tallying 15 kills with zero errors on 19 attacks for an impressive .778 hitting percentage in the set. Daemen won the third set 25-15 to finish with their second clean sweep over the Redhawks.
- Six Wildcats combined for eight service aces on the night.
- The Wildcats are 2-0 all-time against first-year program Roberts Wesleyan.
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.
