AMHERST, N.Y. -- For the second straight season,
Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) of the Daemen University men's volleyball team has been named one of the three finalists for the Off The Block Division II National Player of the Year. Schneider was named a finalist alongside Raje Alleye of Quincy and Max Roquet of Lewis. Off The Block is a website solely dedicated to the coverage of collegiate men's volleyball, and presents 11 NCAA Division I-II men's volleyball awards annually.
Off The Block selected the players through a nationwide voting committee of more than 20 NCAA Division I-II men's volleyball coaches and volleyball media to determine the finalists and winners. The top three vote-getters for each award were named finalists, and the individual receiving the most votes will be named the award winner, which will be announced throughout the next two weeks. The Division II National Player of the Year is given to the nation's best player on an NCAA Division II men's volleyball team during the regular season.
Schneider led Daemen offensively for the fifth straight season, breaking his own single-season program record for kills with 320 (3.86 kills per set) while leading the Wildcats to the team's most successful season to date. In his stellar fifth-year campaign, the outside hitter was one of three Wildcats to play all 26 matches this season and finished third in the league with 3.86 kills per set (320 total) and seventh in the NEC with a .297 hitting percentage. His 30 service aces ranked eighth in the conference, and he finished fourth in the NEC with 4.48 points per set on the year. Schneider became the first player in program history to tally 1,000 career kills, earning the pivotal milestone in a 3-0 victory at D'Youville on Feb. 29. He posted double-digit kills in 17 matches this season and led the Wildcats offensively in 16 matches. He posted a season-high 22 kills twice this season, first against Sacred Heart on Feb. 16 and again on March 22 at Saint Francis. Daemen's all-time leading attacker has 1,174 total kills for a .308 hitting percentage over five seasons, 127 aces, 155 blocks and tallied his 500th career dig against Sacred Heart in the regular season finale on Saturday to sit at 504 total digs over five seasons. Schneider earned First Point/NEC Player of the Week three times this season and was named a Prime Performer eight times throughout the year.
Daemen posted a new single-season win record, going 20-6 and finished 9-3 in Northeast Conference play to finish second in the regular season. The Wildcats also posted their second all-time win over an AVCA-ranked opponent during the season when they topped No. 12 ranked UC Santa Barbara, 3-2, on Feb. 1. With the win, Daemen received votes for the first time in the AVCA National Men's Volleyball poll, then earned the program's first ever AVCA Top-20 ranking coming in at T-20th in the nation on Feb. 19. The Wildcats spent two weeks ranked No. 20 in the nation. Daemen returned to the NEC Tournament for the second consecutive season where the Wildcats topped FDU, 3-0, in the semifinals to advance to their first conference championship match. Daemen cruised to a 3-1 win over the NEC regular season champions Saint Francis to earn the program's first NEC Tournament title and beat SFU for the first time in program history. A First Team All-NEC selection for the second straight year, Schneider was named to the NEC All-Tournament Team after totaling 26 kills over the two matches.
Schneider was named the Daemen Athletics Male Athlete of the Year for the second straight season.
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.
