Geoff Schneider

Wildcats Open NEC Play With Home Matches Against Manhattan

2/26/2026 11:15:00 AM

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

HOME, SWEET HOME
The Daemen University men's volleyball team opens up NEC play with a pair of home matches against new conference member Manhattan this weekend. The Wildcats will host the Jaspers in the first of two weekend matches on Friday, Feb. 27 in a 6 PM tilt and close out the weekend on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 2 PM. After winning both exciting non-conference matches this past weekend, the Wildcats come into conference play with a 6-7 record riding a three-match win streak, while the Jaspers are 2-9 on the year and have lost seven straight.

WINNING WEEKEND
The Wildcats earned a pair of home matches this past weekend, first outlasting Dominican 3-2 in a thrilling five set match on Friday night and taking down St. Thomas Aquinas 3-1 in a Saturday afternoon barn burner. In Friday's five set win with scores of 25-20, 23-25, 28-26, 23-25, 16-14, the Wildcats and Chargers both finished with 51 kills while hitting almost identical percentages, with Daemen hitting .151 and Dominican hitting .150 on the night. It marked the fourth five-set match of the season for Daemen and their second five-set victory of the year. Redshirt sophomore Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) totaled a team-high 18 kills while posting his second double-double of the season with 10 digs. Redshirt sophomore Peter Leicht (Brockport, N.Y.) added nine kills with a .468 hitting percentage for the Cats while junior setter Jariel Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) had his second double-double of the year with 38 assists and 13 digs. The Cats took STAC to the limit on Saturday, beating the Spartans 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-23, 29-27) in a tight match to win their third straight match. Three Wildcats finished with double-digit kills as the Cats totaled 51 on the day for a .282 hitting percentage. Mullen led the Wildcats offensively again with 14 kills while redshirt senior Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) posted a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs. Leicht totaled a season-high 11 kills with just one error on 17 attacks to hit at .588 on the day. Giraud paced the Cats offense with 41 assists.

HELLO CONFERENCE PLAY
Since joining the NEC as an associate member ahead of the inaugural 2023 season, the Wildcats have competed at the top of the conference, going 24-13 in the regular season over three years while compiling a 4-1 record in NEC postseason play. Daemen is the defending back-to-back NEC tournament champions, twice beating top-seeded St. Francis at the Red Flash's home gym to earn the crown. With their second NEC tournament title last season, the Cats earned the conference's automatic bid to the National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship. The Wildcats are coming off a 4-4 record in NEC regular season play in 2025 in which they finished third in the conference.

NEW FACES IN THE NEC
The Jaspers are one of two new teams playing NEC men's volleyball for the 2026 season. New members Manhattan and Maryland Eastern Shore are both playing in their respective program's inaugural seasons this year to raise the number of conference teams to seven total for this season.

CO-FAVORITES
Daemen was picked as the co-favorite in the 2026 NEC Men's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Wildcats picked up three first-place votes, and finished tied with Saint Francis University (Pa.) atop the poll. Daemen enters the 2026 campaign as the two-time defending NEC champions. LIU and FDU each received one first-place vote, and finished third and fourth, respectively, in the poll. New NEC members Manhattan and Maryland Eastern Shore occupied poll positions five and six, respectively, while D'Youville was picked seventh to round it out.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Daemen has dominated home court over the program's eight seasons, amassing a 48-13 record at Lumsden Gymnasium. Since 2021, the Wildcats have just five home losses, with just two of those losses coming in conference play, and both against the three-time NEC regular season champion St. Francis (2-3 loss on March 25, 2023 and 0-3 loss on April 12, 2025). The Wildcats also have one loss in the postseason as they fell to Penn State in the NCAA Tourmament at home last season.

SCOUTING THE JASPERS
Playing in their inaugural season, Manhattan comes into their first NEC weekend with a 2-9 overall record. After dropping their first two matches of the year at #13 Penn State (0-3) and at Harvard (1-3), the Jaspers picked up the program's first ever win in a 3-0 decision against the Crimson of Harvard on Jan. 17 and then continued with a 3-0 victory over Roosevelt in their first home game in program history on Jan. 23. Since then, Manhattan has lost seven straight, including three to AVCA ranked teams. Head coach Chris Schortgen has comprised a first-year roster of 13 freshmen and just three players with previous collegiate playing experience. Averaging 10.8 kills/set as a team, the Jaspers are led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Kasen Owens with 96 kills (2.53/set) while adding 14 blocks on the year. Junior outside hitter Wojtek Nowak ranks fifth in the NEC with a .318 hitting percentage and has contributed 79 kills (2.63/set), a team-high 13 aces (0.43/set ranks third in the NEC) along with 12 blocks. Freshman outside Kai Patchell leads the Jaspers at the net with 33 total blocks (0.83/set).

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will host crosstown rival D'Youville on Tuesday, March 3 in a 6 PM match.

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