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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
Jariel Giraud sets a ball
Geoff Schneider
1
Daemen Daemen 9-5,0-0 NEC
3
Winner George Mason GMU 12-6,3-1 EIVA
Daemen Daemen
9-5,0-0 NEC
1
Final
3
George Mason GMU
12-6,3-1 EIVA
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Daemen Daemen 22 23 27 23 (1)
George Mason GMU 25 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball | | CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Director of Athletics Communications | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

Wildcats Battle But Fall To RV George Mason

FAIRFAX, VA. – The Daemen University men's volleyball team played to a very close 1-3 (22-25, 23-25, 27-25, 23-25) loss on the road at RV George Mason University on Thursday night in their first of three straight matches against AVCA nationally-ranked teams. It marked the second loss in a row for Daemen, who now moves to 9-5 on the year while the Patriots improve to 12-6 overall.

With the full Daemen lineup back in action tonight, the Wildcats put up a fight in each set against the Patriots, holding host GMU win by three points or less in each set. Graduate student Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) was back to full force tonight and led all players with 22 kills on the night and was one of three Wildcats to total double-digit kills in the loss. Also returning to the Daemen lineup this evening was sophomore setter Jariel Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) and sophomore middle blocker Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) who each were out of the lineup for the majority of February and early March.

Daemen remains in Fairfax and will play a non-league neutral site game on Friday night against #5 UC Irvine at 6 PM.

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Schneider put together an outstanding game, totaling a season-high 22 kills with seven errors on 41 attacks for a .366 hitting percentage. The graduate student outside hitter led the team with two solo blocks and added two block assists and six digs for 25 points in the win.
  • Redshirt freshman right side Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) posted double-digit kills for the third time this season, totaling 11 kills on 23 attacks to hit at a .261 clip. Mullen added one solo block, one block assist, two digs and one assist on the night.
  • Redshirt senior outside hitter Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) totaled 10 kills for a .217 hitting percentage along with four digs, two aces and two assists.
  • In his return to the starting setter position, Giraud totaled 42 assists, two kills, one ace, one solo block and four digs in a stellar outing.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • The Wildcats and Patriots exchanged points to open the first set, including a huge Daemen block on GMU's Gio Collazo to make it a one-point game, 8-7. From there, the Patriots went on a 9-3 run off six Daemen errors to take a firm 17-10 lead over the Cats. Daemen went on a run of their own from there, scoring 10 of the next 15 points off three Schneider kills, and two kills apiece from Mullen and Wieberg to make it a 22-20 game. The Patriots closed out the set on a 3-2 run to take the first, 25-22. The Wildcats out-hit George Mason 13 to 11 in the first for a .370 hitting percentage but committed eight service errors, and that was the difference in the set. Wieberg and Mullen each tallied four first set kills while Schneider accounted for three.
  • Daemen and George Mason were tied up at 12 early after the Wildcats totaled five kills and took advantage of seven GMU errors, but from there the Patriots rattled off seven of the next nine points, including a 4-0 run, to jump out to an 18-14 advantage. The Cats brought the game within two, 19-17 and mounted another comeback after the Pats went on a 3-0 run of their own to make it a one-point game, 23-22. GMU notched a kill to get to set point, and after an Arabasz kill to make it a one-point game yet again, the Patriots closed out the set after a Wildcat service error, 25-23. Schneider totaled six of Daemen's 10 kills in the second set.
  • The Cats opened the third set on a 10-5 heater after tallying four kills but GMU mounted a 5-1 comeback to make it a two-point game, 11-9. Mason took advantage of nine Daemen errors on an 11-8 run to tie the game up at 19. The Cats and Pats traded points for the rest of the set, and in extra points, the Wildcats topped GMU 27-25 after winning four of the final five points in the set. Schneider totaled 11 of Daemen's 16 kills.
  • Just like the previous three sets, the Wildcats and Patriots stayed tight through the entire game, with neither team ever leading by more than two. With the Wildcats up 23-22, GMU posted the final three points of the match to take the fourth, 25-23, and win the match, 3-1. Daemen hit their best hitting percentage of the match in the fourth (.478) and totaled 14 kills with Schneider, Mullen, Wieberg and O'Neill each tallying three kills in the set.
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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