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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
mvb wins nec championship
Scott Stover
3
Winner Daemen Daemen 20-6,9-3 NEC
1
Saint Francis (PA) SF-PA 21-9,12-0 NEC
Winner
Daemen Daemen
20-6,9-3 NEC
3
Final
1
Saint Francis (PA) SF-PA
21-9,12-0 NEC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Daemen Daemen 25 25 22 25 (3)
Saint Francis (PA) SF-PA 23 21 25 20 (1)

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

NEC Champions!! Men's Volleyball Tops Saint Francis 3-1 In Tournament Championship Match

LORETTO, Pa. – NORTHEAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS!!! The Daemen University men's volleyball team collected the program's first ever NEC Championship title with a huge 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20) victory over the Saint Francis Red Flash on Saturday afternoon to cap off the winningest season in Daemen program history. Daemen Second Team All-NEC fifth year setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) was named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament, while First Team All-NEC fifth year senior Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) and junior middle hitter Maverick O'Neill (East Amherst, N.Y.) each earned All-Tournament team honors.
 
Coming into the NEC Tournament as the No. 2 seed, the Wildcats round out the year with a program record 20 wins, finishing 20-6 overall and end the season with a seven-match win streak. It also marked the first time in program history that Daemen beat Saint Francis after falling to the Red Flash in the last six meetings.
 
Daemen finished the championship with 56 kills for a .328 hitting percentage while holding the two-time NEC regular season champion Red Flash to 48 kills while hitting at a .313 clip on the day. Four Wildcats tallied double-digit kills on the day, with Schneider totaling a team-high 16 kills. O'Neill added 13 while senior opposite Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) and junior outside hitter Billy Wieberg (Grand Island, N.Y.) each finished with 10. Saint Francis junior opposite and NEC Player of the Year Nathan Zini led all players with 21 kills in the match.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Playing in his final collegiate game, Califf posted a double-double (assists-digs), totaling 42 assists (10.5 assists/set) and 10 digs, finishing with two kills, one ace and one block assist.
  • Schneider totaled 16 kills on 36 attacks for a .306 hitting percentage while adding seven digs, two block assists, one ace and one assist on the day.
  • O'Neill posted a team-high .750 hitting percentage, going 13 of 16 with just one error while adding three block assists, one dig and one assist.
  • Milligan finished with 10 kills for a .250 hitting percentage while adding seven digs and two block assists.
  • Wieberg totaled 10 kills, eight digs and one block assist.
  • The Wildcats ran double liberos tonight, with sophomore Kyle Zelasko (West Seneca, N.Y.) finishing with nine digs and one assist and graduate student Michael Krueger (Canonsburg, Pa.) totaling two digs and two assists.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • It was an extremely back-and-forth first set between the top two teams in the league. The Wildcats and Red Flash traded points to nine all, and after a pair of SFU points, Daemen went on a 5-1 run to lead 14-12. From there, the Red Flash scored four of the next five to take a one-point lead. Each team traded points to the end of the set, but with SFU up 23-22, the Wildcats won the last three points to take the first, 25-23 after a Red Flash service error, a Milligan kill and a bad set by SFU.  
  • The Wildcats hit .364 in the first, totaling 11 kills on 22 attacks but took advantage of Saint Francis' eight service errors and four attack errors in the set. Wieberg and O'Neill each tallied three kills for the Cats in the first.
  • Saint Francis opened the second set on a 5-3 run, but Daemen turned up the heat from there, winning 11 of the next 16 points to take a 14-10 lead. Both teams went on small runs from there, but the Wildcats remained in the lead and went into set point up 24-17. SFU scored four unanswered points off three kills and an error to keep it interesting, but Schneider finished with a kill to take the second set 25-21.
  • Schneider and O'Neill each posted five second-set kills, combining for 10 of Daemen's 16 kills as the Wildcats tallied a .370 hitting percentage in the set.
  • For the second set in a row, the Red Flash opened the third set hot, going on a 5-1 run to start the set. Daemen scored six of the next nine points after the Red Flash committed five errors to bring the game within one, 8-7. The Wildcats kept it close through the middle of the set, but the SFU attack was hard to stop and the Red Flash led 21-16 late. Saint Francis won six of the final 10 points to take the third set 25-22 and force a fourth.
  • The Wildcats hit just .226 in the third and tallied 12 kills on 31 attacks. O'Neill and Schneider both hit four kills in the set.
  • Daemen handled the fourth set, taking the lead at 9-8 after trading points to open the set and never looking back. The Wildcats tallied 17 kills for a .361 clip in the final set while holding SFU to 10 kills. Daemen won the fourth set 25-20 to win the match, 3-1 and earn their first ever NEC Tournament Championship!
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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