Geoff Schneider

Men's Volleyball Heads To Saint Francis For NEC Matches

3/19/2026 4:15:00 PM

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

BACK AT IT
The Daemen University men's volleyball team returns to the court after a 13-day break and resumes NEC play on the road at Saint Francis this weekend. The Wildcats and Red Flash will play on Friday, March 20 at 6 PM and Saturday, March 21 at 3 PM in Loretto, Pa. Daemen (10-8) and Saint Francis (9-8) are two of the three teams currently atop the NEC with a 3-1 record in conference play.

LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats collected three wins in one week, sweeping D'Youville in a pair of 3-0 matches on March 3 and March 5, and earned a 3-1 neutral site win over Judson on March 1. In Daemen's first match up with the Saints, The Cats won 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-18) on Tuesday at home, posting a .275 hitting percentage while holding the Saints to hit just .159 on the night. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Aidan White (Fairport, N.Y.) led the Wildcats offensively with 12 kills with just two errors on the night while redshirt sophomore Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) contributed nine kills. Daemen won the Thursday meeting at D'Youville's Saints Center Gym, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-20). Hitting over .300 for the fourth time this season, the Wildcats posted a .361 hitting percentage, highlighted by a 16-kill performance in the first set. Mullen totaled 11 kills, redshirt senior outside hitter Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) totaled eight kills, fifth year middle blocker Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) finished with a season-tying high seven kills while hitting .778 on the night, and White totaled seven kills. Matching up against Judson for the first time in program history, the Wildcats collected a 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 25-15) victory in a neutral site non-conference match at Saints Center Gym to improve to 10-8. The Wildcats secured the victory with an impressive .478 hitting percentage in the final set and outhit Judson 46 to 30. Redshirt junior Johnaustin Bly (Lancaster, N.Y.) led the Wildcats offensively with 13 kills while freshman Jeremiah Laird (Canandaigua, N.Y.) posted a career-high nine kills on 13 attacks for a .538 hitting percentage while also accounting for one solo block, five block assists in just his second collegiate match. Redshirt freshman Jonas Drum (Grand Island, N.Y.) totaled eight kills for the Cats.

STAT CATS
Daemen leads the league in service aces (1.65/set), opponent kills (10.91/set) and opponent assists (10.16/set) and ranks third in the conference in points (14.89/set), blocks (2.21/set), opponent blocks (1.73/set), opponent hitting percentage (.237), and second in opponent digs (8.52). Mullen ranks third in the NEC in kills (3.56/set) and points (4.25/set). Leicht is fifth in the conference in blocks (0.94/set) and Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) ranks fifth (0.95/set). Giraud is fourth in the league in assists (8.58/set), Zelasko is fourth in digs this season (1.94/set) while the tandem of Wieberg and Mullen are third (0.47/set) and fifth (0.39/set) in aces, respectively.

THE GAMES THAT COUNT
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 28-15 in the regular season four 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 Saint 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.

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 atop the poll. Daemen enters the 2026 campaign as the two-time defending NEC Tournament 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.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will host NEC newcomer Maryland Eastern Shore next weekend (March 27-28) at Lumsden Gymnasium.

SCOUTING THE RED FLASH
As the three-time defending NEC regular season champions, Saint Francis is playing in their final season as an NCAA Division I program, as the school announced they would be moving down to NCAA Division III beginning in the 2026-27 school year. The Red Flash come into the weekend with a 9-8 overall record and 3-1 record in NEC play after splitting their series with LIU but sweeping Maryland Eastern Shore (3-0) last weekend. Saint Francis averages 11.34 kills per set and are led by senior outside hitter Brady Stump with 3.24 kills/set (4th in NEC) who also leads the league with 0.54 aces/set. Returning to the SFU lineup after sustaining an injury last season, graduate student Nathan Zini is averaging 2.53 kills/set this year.

SERIES HISTORY
The Red Flash own a 7-3 all-time record over Daemen. Two of Daemen's three victories over the Red Flash have come in the NEC Championship game. The Wildcats have won three of the last four meetings.

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