AMHERST, N.Y. – After collecting a big win over Saint Francis University on Friday night, the Daemen University men's volleyball team fell to the Red Flash on Saturday afternoon in an 0-3 (23-25, 21-25, 30-32) loss. Snapping a three-match win streak, the Wildcats move to 12-11overall and 3-3 in Northeast Conference play while Saint Francis improves to 11-12 and 5-1 in conference matches.
In what was a close match from start to finish, the statistics showed much of the same. The Red Flash narrowly out-hit the Wildcats 36 to 35 on the night, committing six fewer attack errors to finish with a .267 hitting percentage compared to Daemen's .148 in the match. Daemen posted 10 service aces while allowing just six from SFU, but Saint Francis out-blocked Daemen 8.0 to 5.0 in the match. Both teams had just one player hit in the double-digits today, with Wildcat graduate student
Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) leading Daemen with 14 kills while SFU senior Andrew Deardorff led the Red Flash with 10 kills.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Schneider posted 14 kills and five errors on 28 attacks for a .321 hitting percentage, adding three aces, three digs, one solo block and one block assist assists for 18.5 points on the day.
- Redshirt freshman Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) finished with nine kills along with five errors on 27 attacks while adding one solo block, one block assist and one dig.
- Sophomore middle blocker Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) totaled four kills, three aces, one solo block, two assists and one dig.
- Sophomore setter Jariel Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) finished with 30 assists and a team-high seven digs.
- Sophomore outside hitter Jack Rooney (Lakeview, N.Y.) appeared in two sets and totaled three kills on three assists for a .333 clip while adding four digs and two aces.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- After both teams traded points to six all, the Red Flash scored six of the next seven points off three kills and three Daemen errors to take a 12-7 lead. SFU led by as much as nine, 18-9, until the Wildcats put together a 7-2 run to bring the game within four, 20-16. Daemen kept the game close to the end but Saint Francis took the first set, 25-21 after out-hitting the Cats 14-10 for a .435 clip while holding Daemen to hit just .217 in the first.
- Daemen jumped out to an 8-6 advantage early, but from there the Red Flash scored five unanswered to lead 11-8. Saint Francis held onto their lead for the rest of the set, taking the second 25-21 to improve to a 2-0 set lead over the Cats.
- After trading points back and forth throughout the start of the third, the Wildcats went on a five-point run and held onto their five-point advantage to 20-15. From there, SFU scored six of the next nine points to bring the game within two, 23-21. On Daemen's set point, the Red Flash scored four straight to take a 25-24 lead. Both teams would trade scoring two points each until the Red Flash finished off the set with a 32-30 victory to sweep the Wildcats, 3-0.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will host crosstown rival D'Youville next Friday, April 18 at 7 PM for Daemen's Senior Day in their final regular season home match.
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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