AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen University men's volleyball team took down the Northeast Conference leading Saint Francis Red Flash 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23) on Friday night, handing SFU their first conference loss of the season. Daemen won their third straight match and improves to 12-10 on the year and 3-2 in NEC play, while Saint Francis moves to 10-13 overall and 4-1 in NEC matches. The Wildcats improve to 7-0 at Lumsden Gymnasium with the victory tonight.
In a rematch of the 2024 NEC Tournament Championship match, it marked the second straight win for Daemen over Saint Francis after the Cats topped SFU 3-1 a season ago to win Daemen's first ever NEC Tournament title. Tonight marked just the second time in eight meetings that the Wildcats have beaten the Red Flash.
For the third straight match, a trio of Wildcats hit in the double-digits tonight, with graduate student
Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) and redshirt freshman
Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) each totaling 14 kills on the night while redshirt junior
Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) chipping in 11 kills in the win. Schneider, Mullen and Wieberg combined for 39 of Daemen's 51 kills on the night.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Schneider posted 14 kills and four errors on 31 attacks for a .323 hitting percentage, adding six digs and three assists for 14 points.
- Mullen finished with a career-tying high 14 kills for the second straight match along with five errors and 32 attacks to hit at a .281 clip along with two assists.
- Wieberg totaled 11 kills with just two errors on 18 attacks to hit a team-high .500 percentage. The outside hitter added seven digs and one solo block on the night.
- Sophomore setter Jariel Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) totaled 36 assists, seven digs, three kills and one block assist in the win.
- Senior middle blocker Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) finished with a team-high three solo blocks and added four kills, one block assist and two digs.
- Junior libero Kyle Zelasko (West Seneca, N.Y.) totaled 12 digs and two assists.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Throughout the first set, the Wildcats and Red Flash traded points. SFU went up as much as three, 19-16, until Daemen went on a 6-1 run off two Schneider kills and four errors from the Red Flash to take a 22-20 advantage. The Wildcats closed out the first set scoring three of the final four points to take the set 25-21 after out-hitting Saint Francis 11-9.
- The Red Flash opened the second on a 9-3 run, and despite Daemen bringing the game within three, 9-6, SFU scored eight of the next 10 points to take a commanding 17-8 lead in the middle of the set. Saint Francis took the second, 25-19, to tie the game up at one.
- Daemen took a 7-2 lead to start the third after totaling four kills off four attacks. The Wildcats never looked back from there, taking as much as a 20-13 lead. The Red Flash pushed back on Daemen's set point, scoring four straight, but a kill from Wieberg sealed the deal for the Cats to win the third set 25-20.
- After Daemen jumped out to an 8-4 lead, SFU scored four of the next five to make it a one-point game, 9-8. Both teams took turns going on runs from there, and after the Red Flash took a 21-19 lead, the Wildcats scored the next four points to go up 23-21. SFU tied it up at 23, but a pair of Red Flash errors ended the match with the Wildcats up 25-23.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats and Red Flash will square off again on Saturday at 4 PM at Lumsden Gymnasium.
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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