James P. McCoy

Men's Volleyball Faces FDU On The Road This Weekend

4/3/2026 7:40:00 AM

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

FINAL ROAD WEEKEND
The Daemen University men's volleyball team heads to New Jersey for their final road weekend of the regular season to play FDU in a pair of NEC matches on Friday and Saturday. The Cats will take on the Knights on Friday, April 3 at 6 PM and wrap up the weekend on Saturday with a 1 PM match. The Wildcats come into the weekend with a 12-10 overall record and 5-3 record in NEC action while FDU comes in at 10-9 overall and 4-2 in conference matches.

LAST WEEKEND
The Wildcats swept NEC newcomer Maryland Eastern Shore in both matches at home last weekend. In Friday night's 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-23) victory over the Hawks, redshirt senior outside hitter Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) led all players offensively with 11 of Daemen's 34 kills while hitting at a .611 clip. Redshirt sophomore Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) totaled 10 kills. The Cats hit .286 in the night and held UMES to hitting just .081. Daemen held the NEC's top blocking team to just six total blocks while six Wildcat players combined for 10 blocks in the win, led by fifth year middle blocker Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) with three on the night. Meeting for the second time on Saturday, UMES opened up hot in the first set, cruising to a 15-25 win over the Cats but Daemen responded to win the next three sets to take the match, 3-1 (15-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-23). Daemen dominated the court offensively in the win, out-hitting UMES 61 to 39 while posting a .312 hitting percentage. Three Wildcats posted double-digit kills, led by the big arms of Wieberg and redshirt freshman Aidan White (Fairport, N.Y.)'s 16 kills a piece. Mullen finished with 14 kills in the win. Junior setter Jariel Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) posted his fourth double-double of the season with 53 assists and 10 digs. O'Neill totaled eight kills on 13 attacks for a team-high .462 hitting percentage, adding two block assists and one solo block.

STAT CATS
Daemen ranks second in the league in service aces (1.51/set), opponent digs (8.58/set) and opponent blocks (1.73/set), and leads the NEC in opponent assists (10.11/set), and opponent kills (10.95/set) while ranking third in the conference in points (15.13/set). Mullen ranks third in the NEC in kills (3.53/set) and points (4.2/set). Wieberg ranks 10th in the league in kills (2.66/set). O'Neill ranks fourth in the NEC in blocks (0.98/set) while Leicht is fifth is (0.91/set). Giraud is fourth in the league in assists (9.04/set) and eighth in digs (1.62/set), Zelasko is third in digs this season (2.05/set) while the tandem of Wieberg and Mullen are fifth (0.39/set) and sixth (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 28-17 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 return to Lumsden Gymnasium for their final homestand of the regular season next weekend as they host LIU on Friday and Saturday (April 10-11). Daemen will host Senior Day to honor their senior class before Saturday's 4 PM match.

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
With six games left on their regular season schedule, the Knights have already matched last year's win total (10) and come into this weekend with a 10-9 overall record and 4-2 record in NEC action. Averaging 10.56 kills per set (third in the NEC), FDU is led once again by the offensive weapon of senior outside Jamal Ellis Carballo who averages 3.46 kills/set and leads the league with an impressive 0.58 aces per set. Sophomore outside hitter Laydon Biro also contributes 2.96 kills per set for the Knights while hitting .304 on the year. Junior middle blocker Rayjan Suarez Palacios leads the NEC with 1.32 blocks per set (66 total) and also leads the league with a .388 hitting percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 7-1 all-time against FDU

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