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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
Billy Wieberg goes for a kill against Penn State
Geoff Schneider
0
Daemen Daemen 15-13,4-4 NEC
3
Winner Penn St. PSU 15-15,8-4 EIVA
Daemen Daemen
15-13,4-4 NEC
0
Final
3
Penn St. PSU
15-15,8-4 EIVA
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Daemen Daemen 23 21 22 (0)
Penn St. PSU 25 25 25 (3)

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

Men's Volleyball Falls To #20 Penn State In NCAA Tournament Opening Round

AMHERST, N.Y. – Playing in the program's very first NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament, the Daemen University men's volleyball dropped their opening round play-in match to #20 Penn State University, 0-3 (23-25, 21-25, 22-25). The Wildcats finish the 2025 season as the back-to-back Northeast Conference Tournament champions and post a 15-13 overall record in the first season under head coach Darek Przybyl. EIVA Tournament champions Penn State advances to the NC Championship quarterfinals where they will be the No. 7 seed in the tournament and will face No. 2 seed Hawaii in Columbus, Ohio next Thursday, May 8.

Playing against the Nittany Lions for just the second time in program history and the first time in the postseason, Daemen out-hit Penn State 39 to 33 on the night and hit an impressive .301 while PSU finished with a .366 hitting percentage. Penn State out-blocked Daemen 7 to 3 on the night and limited their errors across the board; Daemen finished with 14 attack errors and 19 service errors compared to 7 attack errors and 13 service errors for the Nittany Lions. Daemen redshirt junior Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) led the Wildcats offensively with 12 kills.

Two Wildcats, Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) and Ethan Sturm (Lisle, Ill.) played in their final collegiate match today. In his three seasons, Sturm, a middle blocker, helped the Wildcats to 52 wins, two NEC Tournament titles and the program's first NC Championship appearance. Schneider, a sixth year outside hitter, leaves as the program record holder in matches played, sets played, kills, kills/set, attack attempts, service aces, service aces/set, digs, blocks, solo blocks, block assists, points and points/set.

PHOTO GALLERY


IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Wieberg finished with a team-high 12 kills and four errors on 26 attacks for a .308 hitting percentage, adding two assists, one ace, two block assists and two digs.
  • Schneider totaled nine kills and three errors on 19 attacks to hit .316 on the night. In his final collegiate game, he added four digs, two aces and two assists.
  • Redshirt freshman right side Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) posted seven kills on 21 attacks along with three digs, one ace and one block assist.
  • Sophomore setter Jariel Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) totaled 26 assists, three kills, one ace, five digs and one block assist.
  • Middle blockers Ondrej Arabasz (Jicin, Czech Republic) and Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) each finished with four kills on the night. Arabasz added two aces, one block assist and one dig, while O'Neill posted two block assists and one dig.   
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • The Wildcats opened up their first NCAA Tournament appearance with the very first point of the match off a kill from Wieberg, but the Nittany Lions rattled off six of the next seven points to take a 6-2 advantage early. After forcing three PSU errors and totaling a pair of aces and a Schneider kill, Daemen tied it up at 8. From there, it was almost point-for-point between the two teams. The Wildcats again tied the game up at 17 after Wieberg collected three kills and Giraud and Mullen added one each. After the Wildcats tied it up at 23, Penn State closed out the set winning the final two points off a kill and a Daemen attack error to take the first, 25-23. Wieberg led the way for the Cats offensively with six of Daemen's 11 first-set kills.
  • Penn State jumped out to an 11-8 lead, capitalizing on eight Daemen errors to start the second. The Nittany Lions remained in the lead through the middle of the set, taking as much as a six-point advantage, 18-12, until the Wildcats went on a 9-3 run off four Daemen kills to tie the game up at 21 late. Penn State would win the final four points of the set off two kills, an ace and a Daemen attack error to take the second, 25-21, and take a 2-0 lead over the Cats.
  • With the Nittany Lions starting the third up 12-8, the Wildcats scored three of the next four points to bring the game within two, 13-11. From there, PSU went on a 5-1 run, capitalizing on four Daemen errors, and led 18-12. Following a Wildcat timeout, Daemen rattled off eight of the next 11 points, with all six different players recording kills to make it a one-point game, 21-20. Penn State finished the set on a 4-2 run to win the third, 25-22 and win the third and final 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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