AMHERST, N.Y. -- The awards keep coming for Daemen University men's volleyball outside hitter
Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.)! The senior was named to the 33rd annual American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)
National Collegiate Men's Volleyball All-America Team on Monday afternoon, taking home Honorable Mention honors. The AVCA All-America selections were voted on by the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball All-America Committee. Schneider is the first Daemen men's volleyball player to earn AVCA All-America honors in the program's five year history.
After helping lead the Wildcats to a successful 2023 season where they finished second in the Northeast Conference regular season and posted the most single-season wins in program history (17), Schneider was named the inaugural NEC Player of the Year and First Team All-NEC after finishing his senior campaign with a team-high 318 kills (3.83 kills/set), a team-high 156 digs (1.88 digs/set), 38 blocks and 25 aces. He set a program record for single-season kills in the 2023 season and broke the single-game kill record for both three-set matches and five-set matches this year.
Schneider led the Wildcats offensively in 17 matches this season, and posted double-digit kills in 18 of Daemen's 24 matches. He was named First Point/NEC Player of the Week for a record five times this season, and was also named a First Point/NEC Prime Performer five times. On the year, Schneider finished third in the NEC in kills (3.83 kills/set) and points (4.46 points/set), fourth in hitting percentage (.361), fifth in digs (1.88 digs/set) and sixth in service aces (0.30 aces/set). As a team, the Wildcats finished atop the league in points (15.75 points/set), hitting percentage (.289), kills (12.18 per set), assists (11.13 per set), aces (1.58 per set), and opponent hitting percentage (.222), while ranking second in blocks (1.99 per set), opponent digs (8.26 per set), opponent aces (1.14 per set) and opponent assists (9.98 per set) and third in opponent kills (10.96 per set) and opponent blocks (1.78 per set).
The Wildcats finished the 2023 season with a 17-7 overall record and an 11-3 record in the inaugural NEC season. Daemen posted the first ever win over an AVCA nationally-ranked team in program history, topping #12 Cal State Northridge on March 18 while on the West Coast road trip in California over spring break. Daemen entered the first ever NEC Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, but fell to eventual tournament champions Long Island University in the semifinals.
Schneider is the first Daemen men's volleyball player to earn AVCA All-America honors, but joins former women's volleyball players
Caitlyn Meyer and
Ashley Drzymala to receive AVCA Honorable Mention All-American.
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.
