Billy Wieberg celebrates in men's volleyball match against USC

Cary Qian

Wildcats Host Dominican In 2025 Home Opener On Friday

1/23/2025 10:55:00 AM

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

HOME OPENER
The Daemen University men's volleyball team returns to Western New York this weekend with their 2025 home opener at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats will host Dominican University New York in a 7 PM match on Friday, Jan. 24. Daemen comes into the matchup with a 1-2 overall record after their California road trip to open the season, while the Chargers sit at 1-0.

SEASON OPENING WEEKEND
For the second time in three seasons, the Wildcats traveled out to the West Coast to play three California teams back on their season opening weekend, Jan. 9-11. Daemen opened the year at #7 USC where they fell to the Trojans 3-1. The Wildcats earn a set victory over an AVCA top-10 ranked team for the second straight season, taking the first set 25-19 after hitting .448 in the set and totaling 16 kills. After hitting .448 in the first and .280 in the second, Daemen finished with a .168 hitting percentage in the match, totaling 43 kills and 25 errors on 107 attacks. Graduate student outside hitter Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) led the Wildcats offensively with 17 kills on 35 attacks for a .286 hitting percentage. Redshirt junior outside hitter Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) totaled eight kills, Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) totaled five kills with just one error on 13 attacks for a team-high .308 hitting percentage. Stepping in as the starting setter this season, sophomore Jariel Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) finished with 35 assists against the Trojans. The next night, the Wildcats played their second straight AVCA Top-25 team and fell to #18 UC San Diego, 3-0 on Friday. Schneider again led the Wildcats offensively with 9 kills on 21 attacks for a .286 hitting percentage while adding added three digs. Making his second collegiate start, redshirt freshman middle blocker Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) finished with a career-high six kills while adding two digs. Giraud finished with 19 assists on the night while junior libero Kyle Zelasko (West Seneca, N.Y.) led the Cats with five digs and added two assists. The Wildcats hurt themselves with errors against the Tritons, compiling 19 attack errors and 20 service errors along with five reception errors. Playing in their final match of the California road trip, Daemen notched their first win of the season and the first win as a head coach for Darek Przybyl in a 3-1 decision against Concordia University Irvine on Saturday night. After struggling offensively against #18 UC San Diego on Friday night, the Wildcats hit well against the Golden Eagles on Saturday, starting off strong with a .500 hitting percentage in the first set and finished with a .288 clip while out-hitting CUI 49 to 43 on the night. Daemen also out-blocked CUI 11.5 to 9 tonight, finishing with 17 block assists and three solo blocks for the Cats at the net. Schneider finished with 13 kills and five errors on 30 attacks for a .267 hitting percentage on the night. Mullen totaled double-digit kills for the first time in his young collegiate career, posting a career-high 13 kills on 28 attacks with five errors for a .286 hitting percentage along with four block assists. Arabasz finished with nine kills with no errors on 13 attacks for a .692 hitting percentage, adding three aces and four block assists. Two kills shy of a double-double, Wieberg totaled eight kills and 10 digs. Senior middle blocker Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) totaled five kills and five total blocks, posting two solo blocks and three block assists, along with two assists and one ace. Giraud finished with 40 assists, eight digs, one ace, one kill, one solo block and one block assist.

WEEKLY AWARD SWEEP
The Wildcats swept the First Point/Northeast Conference Men's Volleyball Weekly Awards for the first week of the season, with Schneider earning Player of the Week, O'Neill earning Defensive Player of the Week and Mullen earning Rookie of the Week. In their first weekend of action, Schneider totaled 39 kills (3.5 kills/set), O'Neill totaled 10 blocks and 10 kills, and Mullen finished with 24 kills (2.4 kills/set).

PRESEASON POLL
Daemen was selected second in the 2025 Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, released on Wednesday. Saint Francis University, winners of the past two NEC regular season titles, was picked first in the preseason poll and garnered three first-place votes. The NEC Tournament-winning Wildcats earned one first place vote and are tied with Fairleigh Dickinson University for second in the conference. FDU also earned one first place vote. Long Island University is fourth in the conference, and D'Youville University is the fifth and final team in the NEC Preseason Poll.

NEC CHAMPIONS
In their second year playing in the NEC the Wildcats finished second in the regular season but finished the season on a high, earning the program's first NEC Tournament Championship title after beating Fairleigh Dickinson University, 3-0, in the semifinals and taking down top-seeded Saint Francis University, 3-1, in the conference championship game. The Wildcats compiled a program record 20 wins last season, finishing the 2024 campaign with a 20-6 overall record and a 9-3 record in NEC play.

NEW ERA
The Wildcats have a new head coach for the first time in program history. Former Daemen assistant coach Darek Przybyl is Daemen's new bench boss following the departure of Donald Gleason, who started the Wildcats' program in 2019, left Daemen to take the head coaching job at Purdue-Fort Wayne in the summer. As the Wildcats' top assistant over the past six years, Przybyl helped Daemen to an 81-43 record from 2019-2024.

UP NEXT
Daemen will host Roberts Wesleyan on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 6:30 PM in Lumsden Gymnasium.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
Playing in their second year, Dominican is looking to build off a successful first season in which they went 12-13 and 3-3 in East Coast Conference play in their inaugural season. The Chargers advanced to the first ever ECC Men's Volleyball Championship but fell in the final game in a 3-2 decision to St. Thomas Aquinas. Dominican picked up a 3-0 win in their season opener against Barry last week. The Chargers average 12.3 kills per set this season and are hitting .379 after their first match. Dominican is led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Ayden Shaw (4.0 kills/set) and sophomore middle blocker Gavin Tate (3.0 kills/set). This will be the first meeting between the Wildcats and the Chargers.

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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