AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen University men's volleyball team picked up a victory in their home opener on Friday night with a perfect 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-22) sweep over Dominican University of New York at Lumsden Gymnasium. With the win, the Wildcats improve to 2-2 on the year while handing the Chargers their first loss of the season as Dominican moves to 1-1.
Seven different Wildcats combined for 40 kills against the Chargers and finished with a .284 hitting percentage on the night. Graduate student
Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) led all players with 17 kills and hit at a .433 clip in the win.
Daemen is off until Wednesday, Feb. 5 when they host Roberts Wesleyan in a 6:30 PM match at Lumsden Gymnasium.
PHOTO GALLERY
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Daemen's leading offensive weapon in all four games this season, Schneider tallied double-digit kills for the third game with 17 kills on 30 attacks and just four errors for a .433 hitting percentage while adding one ace, one block assist and three digs.
- Sophomore middle blocker Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) finished with six kills and two errors on nine attacks for a .444 hitting percentage along with one assist and one ace.
- Redshirt freshman right side Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) totaled six kills and added three digs and two aces.
- Senior outside hitter Jack Rooney (Lakeview, N.Y.) posted four kills with no errors on seven attacks for a .571 hitting percentage while adding one assist and two digs.
- Sophomore setter Jariel Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) totaled 30 assists, six digs, two solo blocks and a kill.
- Junior libero Kyle Zelasko (West Seneca, N.Y.) finished with 10 digs on the night.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Wildcats and Chargers traded points throughout the first set and trailed 13-15. From there, the Cats scored nine of the next 12 points off four Schneider kills and a kill each from Mullen, Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) and Arabasz to take an 22-18 advantage late. Daemen won three of the final four points to take the first, 25-19. Schneider accounted for 11 of Daemen's 16 first set kills and hit .588 in the first.
- The Wildcats took a 3-2 lead in the second set and never trailed again. Dominican kept the game within four points until taking a 14-10 advantage and scored the next three to take as much as a seven point lead, 17-10. Taking advantage of Charger errors down the stretch, Daemen took the second set, 25-17, and finished with 12 kills for a .320 hitting percentage in the set.
- After trading points to tie the third up at 9, the Wildcats went on a 5-2 run to take a 14-11 lead. The Chargers kept it close and tied the game up at 20 late, but Daemen won five of the final seven points to take the third set, 25-22, and finish with a 3-0 sweep. Daemen out-hit Dominican 12-6 in the third set.
GAME NOTES
- This marked the first meeting between Daemen and Dominican.
- The Wildcats out-hit Dominican 40 to 24 on the night.
- The reigning Northeast Conference Tournament champions, Daemen was selected second in the 2025 NEC Preseason Coaches Poll, released ahead of the 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.
