Geoff Schneider

Massachusetts Road Trip On Tap For Men's Volleyball

3/6/2025 8:00:00 AM

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

ROAD TRIP
The Daemen University men's volleyball team heads out to Massachusetts for a pair of non-conference road games this weekend. The Cats, who come into the weekend with an 8-3 overall record, will play at American International on Friday (March 7) before trekking to play at former Northeast Conference foe Merrimack on Saturday (March 8). AIC is 2-11 on the year and Merrimack comes in at 5-4 overall this season.

LAST WEEK
The Wildcats topped Roberts Wesleyan University, 3-1, on the road in their sole match last Thursday to improve to 8-3 on the year and win their fourth straight match. The Wildcats outhit the Redhawks 42 to 37 while hitting at a .323 clip and holding Roberts to .071. Redshirt senior outside hitter Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) led all players with 16 kills while graduate student outside hitter Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) returned to the lineup for the first time since Feb. 8 and totaled 13 kills in the win. Senior middle blocker Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) led the Wildcats with seven blocks – five block assists and two solo blocks – while adding five kills and three digs. Sophomore setter Bradyn Winters (Coraopolis, Pa.) led the Cats with 32 assists, nine digs, two block assists, one ace and one kill. Junior libero Kyle Zelasko (West Seneca, N.Y.) totaled 10 digs on the night.

STRONG NON-CONFERENCE
With six games left to play in Daemen's non-conference slate, the Wildcats are 8-3 overall and look to improve upon their impressive 11-3 non-conference record in the 2024 season. Coming off their program-best 20 win season last year, the Wildcats have 14 matches remaining in the regular season and two postseason matches in the NEC Tournament. Daemen will play just eight Northeast Conference matches this season after the departure of Merrimack and Sacred Heart from the conference in 2024.

ROAD WARRIORS
This weekend's pair of matches marks the second and third of nine straight road matches for the Wildcats. In a tough month of games, Daemen is on the road for the entire month of March and will travel 2,968 miles to five different states where they will face off against AIC, Merrimack, George Mason, UC Irvine, Princeton, LIU and Harvard.

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 trek down to Fairfax, VA to play at George Mason on March 20 and against UC Irvine on March 21 then head into Jersey to play at Princeton on March 22.

SCOUTING THE YELLOWJACKETS
After going 2-19 in the 2024 season, AIC has already tied last season's win record and comes into Friday's match at 2-11 on the year. The Yellowjackets are averaging 8.84 kills per set this season and are led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Willie Lopez Morales (3.36 kills/set) who has 148 total kills on the year. Freshman outside Emil Zhmaidziak also adds 2.05 kills/set for the Yellowjackets. Freshman middle blocker Jahcere Registe has registered 24 of AIC's 56 total blocks this season.

SERIES HISTORY
Daemen has won all seven matches against the Yellowjackets all-time, beating AIC 3-0 every time.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
A former NEC foe, Daemen and Merrimack meet on Saturday for the fifth time in program history. The Warriors come in with a 5-4 record and were riding a five-game win streak including a 3-1 victory over Harvard but snapped their streak with a 1-3 loss at Penn State on Friday. Merrimack is averaging 11.2 kills per set this season while hitting at a .280 clip and are led offensively by 6-foot-3 sophomore outside hitter Kai Vogel with 3.38 kills/set (98 total) who also leads the team with an impressive .398 hitting percentage on the year along with 17 service aces this season. 6-foot-4 junior opposite Logan Whitaker ranks second on the team with 2.48 kills/set (67 total) while 6-foot-7 freshman middle blocker Ephraim Abhulime leads the Warriors with 28 total blocks (0.97 blocks/set).

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 4-0 all-time against the Warriors

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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