Men's Volleyball celebrates a service ace

Geoff Schneider

Men's Volleyball Travels To Roberts Wesleyan For Thursday Tilt

2/26/2025 12:01:00 PM

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

BACK AT IT
The Daemen University men's volleyball team will travel eastbound on the I-90 on Thursday evening for a non-conference match up against Roberts Wesleyan University at the Redhawks' Voller Athletic Center. The Wildcats come into the game with a 7-3 overall record after a 2-0 weekend at home last week, while the Redhawks come in at 6-9 on the year.

LAST WEEKEND
The Wildcats put together a pair of 3-0 sweeps over Central State and American International at Lumsden Gymnasium last weekend. In Friday night's sweep over the Marauders, Daemen out-killed Central State 34 to 22 while hitting at a .300 clip and holding the Marauders to a .043 hitting percentage. Redshirt senior outside hitter Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) posted a match-high 10 kills with just two errors on 16 attacks to hit at .500. Sophomore setter Bradyn Winters (Coraopolis, Pa.) provided 24 assists in the win. The Wildcats posted their third consecutive 3-0 victory on Saturday, sweeping AIC to claim their seventh victory of the season. Winters led Daemen with 31 assists while redshirt freshman right side Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) provided a team-best 10 kills as well as a team-best three aces. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Eddie Kwarciak (Grand Island, N.Y.) tallied two block solos and team-best six digs and added eight kills while sophomore outside hitter Jack Rooney (Lakeview, N.Y.) put down six kills and paired that with a service ace to aid in the Wildcats' victory. Daemen posted a hitting percentage of .327 (41-16-87) while AIC hit at a clip of -.032 (17-19-63), marking the first time the Wildats held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage since April 4, 2024, when they limited Roberts Wesleyan to a -.013 clip.

STAT CATS
Daemen graduate student outside hitter Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) sits at the top of the Northeast Conference in hitting percentage (.386), points (4.73/set) and service aces (0.55/set, 12 total) and ranks second in kills at 3.86/set, 85 total and is ninth in the NEC in digs (1.5/set). Sophomore middle blocker Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) is second in the league with a .370 hitting percentage and ranks ninth in blocks (0.71/set) while Wieberg is fourth in the league in hitting percentage (.304), seventh in kills (2.79/set), third in service aces (0.45/set), and seventh in points (3.4/set). Junior libero Kyle Zelasko (West Seneca, N.Y.) is second in digs (1.8 digs/set), sophomore setter Jariel Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) is third in assists (8.59/set) and seventh in blocks (0.77/set), senior middle blocker Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) is fourth in the league in blocks (0.88/set) and redshirt freshman Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) is 10th in kills (2.17/set), fifth in aces (0.38/set) and ninth in points (2.76/set).

PRESEASON POLL
Daemen was selected second in the 2025 Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. 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 2024 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.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will travel to Massachusetts next weekend to play at AIC (Friday, March 7) and Merrimack (Saturday, March 8) in a pair of non-league matches.

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
In their inaugural season in 2024, Roberts Wesleyan went 8-16 overall and 3-3 in the first East Coast Conference season where they fell in the ECC semifinals to Dominican. The Redhawks come into Thursday's game with a 6-9 record and meet the Wildcats for the second time this season. Since entering the last matchup with a 4-4 record, Roberts has gone 1-5 in matches since meeting the Cats on Feb. 5. On the year, Roberts is averaging 10.7 kills per set and are led offensively by 6-foot-3 sophomore opposite Griffin Monrad with 134 kills (2.63/set), 6-foot-3 sophomore middle Paul Fillion with 127 kills (2.4/set) and 5-foot-11 freshman outside hitter Ryan DeJohn with 118 kills (2.57/set).

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 3-0 all-time against the Redhawks.

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.
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