AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen University men's volleyball team dropped a tight 3-1 (25-22, 15-25, 23-25, 24-26) NEC match against LIU on Friday night to fall to 12-13 overall and 5-6 in conference play. The Wildcats will take on the Sharks in the regular season finale on Saturday at 4 PM at Lumsden Gymnasium.

Though the Wildcats narrowly outhit the Sharks 46 to 45, LIU finished with far fewer errors, totaling just 13 attack errors to Daemen's 25. The Wildcats hit .188 in the match while LIU hit .311 on the night.

IMPACT PLAYERS

• Redshirt sophomore Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) was the only Wildcat to total double-digit kills, leading Daemen with 19 kills on the night to hit at a .262 clip. Mullen added eight digs, one ace and two block assists.
• Redshirt senior Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) finished with seven kills, four digs, three aces, one solo block and one assist.
• Fifth year Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) posted seven kills while hitting .333 on the night and added one solo block, two assisted blocks and two digs.
• Redshirt sophomore Aidan White (Fairport, N.Y.) totaled seven kills, five digs, two assists and one ace.
• Redshirt sophomore Peter Leicht (Brockport, N.Y.) finished with five kills, three aces and one block assist.
• Junior setter Jariel Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) totaled 39 assists, seven digs, two aces, one solo block, one block assist and one kill.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• LIU jumped out to a 10-6 lead early after totaling five kills until the Cats went on a 6-2 run to tie it up at 12. Daemen and LIU played close throughout, with the Wildcats' largest lead coming at 18-14. Four Shark errors down the stretch and a trio of Wildcat kills sealed the first set for Daemen, 25-22.
• The Sharks came out hot in the second but never took their foot off the gas, taking a lead at 8-7 and never trailing from there. After the Wildcats scored to close the gap at 11-9, LIU rattled off 11 of the next 15 points to jump out to a 22-13 advantage and finished the set with a 25-15 win.
• The Wildcats and Sharks went toe-to-toe throughout the third, staying tied up all the way to 22 all. LIU won three of the next four points to take the third set 25-23.
• Like the prior two sets, Daemen and LIU played close to open the set, with the Wildcats making it a one-point game, 9-8, early. From there, the Sharks scored five of the next seven points to take a four-point lead, a lead that LIU would maintain until late in the set when Daemen went on a 6-3 run to tie it up at 21. The Cats and Sharks traded points to the end, but on Daemen's set point, LIU scored the final three points to take the set, 26-24, and win the match, 3-1.