AMHERST, N.Y. --
Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.),
Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) and
Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) of the Daemen University men's volleyball team swept the First Point/Northeast Conference Men's Volleyball Weekly Awards for the first week of the season. Schneider was named the Player of the Week, O'Neill earned Defensive Player of the Week and Mullen was named the Rookie of the Week, the league announced on Tuesday.
The Wildcats opened the 2025 season with a West Coast road trip where they finished 1-2 on the weekend. Playing against ranked teams in their first two games, the Cats fell to #7 USC, 3-1, and dropped a 3-0 match at #18 UC San Diego but earned their first win of the year -- and first victory for new head coach
Darek Przybyl -- in a 3-1 win at Concordia University Irvine on Saturday night.
Schneider, a 6-foot-6 graduate student outside hitter, totaled 39 kills (3.5 kills/set) to hit at a .279 clip while adding 16 digs, 6 blocks and 4 aces in Daemen's opening weekend. The graduate student posted 17 kills in the 2025 season opener at #7 USC and closed out the weekend with a 13 kill performance in Daemen's 3-1 win over Concordia.
Earning a weekly conference award for the first time in his career, O'Neill was named the Defensive Player of the Week after totaling 10 blocks on the weekend. The 6-foot-3 senior middle blocker posted five total blocks – 2 solo – in the Wildcats' first win of the season against Concordia on Saturday night. He chipped in 10 kills on the weekend as well.
Making his collegiate debut over the weekend, Mullen finished with 24 kills (2.4/set), five blocks, five digs and an ace. The 6-foot-4 redshirt freshman posted double-digit kills for the first time in Daemen's win at Concordia on Saturday, totaling a career-high 13 kills on 28 attacks with five errors for a .286 hitting percentage.
The Wildcats are off this weekend but return to action next Friday as they make their home debut with a 7 PM match in Lumsden Gymnasium against Dominican.
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.
