LORETTO, PA. – BACK-TO-BACK! The Daemen University men's volleyball team collected their second consecutive Northeast Conference Men's Volleyball championship with a 3-1 victory over tournament hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) Saturday afternoon at DeGol Arena.
The Wildcats earned the first ever automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament from the NEC and will find out tomorrow who they will face in the first round. As for the Red Flash, they end the year with an overall record of 14-14. Daemen closed the match hitting at a clip of .220 (49-23-118) compared to .145 (40-22-145) for Saint Francis.
IMPACT PLAYERS
• Redshirt junior
Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) led Daemen with 15 kills while redshirt freshman
Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and graduate student
Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) added in 14 and 12 kills, respectively. For Schneider, he also led Daemen in digs with 13 as well.
• Sophomore
Jariel Giraud (Orland, Fla.) notched 30-or-more assists for the sixth consecutive match with 36 assists in the championship win.
• At the net, senior Maverick O'Neil (East Amherst, N.Y.) tallied a game-high seven blocks with three block solos and four block assists.
• Sophomore
Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) tied the match-high in service aces with two.
• Brady Stump led SFU in kills with 14 while Kyle Charles notched 31 assists. Cole Dorn notched a team-best 12 digs in the losing effort.
PHOTO GALLERY
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Down 15-12 midway through the first set, the Wildcats were able to turn the tide as a Wieberg kill ushered in an 8-2 run for Daemen that saw them reclaim the lead, 20-17. The 'Cats kept the Red Flash at bay for the remainder of the set as a trio of Schneider kills sealed the 25-22 set one victory.
• Both sides exchanged scores to begin the second set, but a kill from SFU's Dorn served as the catalyst for a short 6-2 spurt that put the hosts ahead for good, 12-9. Despite a late push from the Wildcats, the Red Storm withstood the attack and scored three of the final four points of the set to take the second set, 25-22 and tie the match, 1-1.
• Daemen roared out of the gate to begin the third set as they rattled off 11 of the first 14 points of the frame with Mullen accouting for a team-best three kills during the run. The Wildcats never let their lead dip below five for the remainder of the set and closed the frame scoring five unanswered points to take the set, 25-15 and a 2-1 match lead. During the third set, the 'Cats hit at a clip of .500 (12-2-20) compared to .174 (8-4-23) for SFU.
• The Wildcats again came out of the gate hot as they rattled off seven of the first nine points of the fourth frame. Daemen continued to attack Saint Francis and extended their lead by as much as seven, 23-16.
• Still, the host Red Flash were able to stave off elimination momentarily as they embarked on a 6-1 run and made it a 24-22 ballgame. However, the NEC Men's Volleyball Championship trophy was coming home with the Wildcats as O'Neil received a ball from Giraud that he slammed down to seal the victory for the Wildcats and bring hardware back to Amherst, N.Y., for the second consecutive season.
POSTMATCH COMMENTS
UP NEXT
The Wildcats await news of their NCAA Tournament opponent. Date, time and location will be announced tomorrow on the selection show at 4 p.m. The link for the selection show and other tournament details can be found
HERE.
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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