WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
>>Saint Francis men's volleyball will be taking on Daeman, the No. 1 team in the Northeast Conference, in two matches on Mar. 22-23. Friday's match will be at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday's will take place at 4:00 p.m.
>>NEC Front Row | Live Stats
NEC TOURNAMENT IMPLICATIONS
Both teams come into the weekend with undefeated conference records. The Red Flash are 4-0 and the Wildcats are 6-0. With eight matches left to play for both teams, this weekend is set to have a big impact on the NEC Tournament.
With two straight wins this weekend, Saint Francis can take control of the No. 1 spot. If the teams split the series, it'll come down to the amount of sets won from both matches combined. If both teams happen to tie on sets won, it'll come down to another tiebreaker of the amount of sets won against the No. 3 team in the conference.
THE WORD ON DAEMEN
Daeman is currently 13-3 overall. The Wildcats were ranked 20th in the AVCA Coaches during the weeks of Feb. 19 and 26. The team from Amherst, N.Y. has one win over a ranked opponent this season, which was a 3-2 victory over then-No. 12 UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 2.
Zack Schneider leads Deamen in kills with 190. Cameron Milligan also has triple-digit kills with 147. Setter Sean Califf has tallied 463 assists and also is the leader in digs with 93.
Another defensive leader is Ondrej Arabasz, who has registered 49 blocks.
LAST TIME WE MET THE WILDCATS
This weekend's matches will be the fifth and sixth matchups between the two schools. Saint Francis is 4-0 all-time, including a season sweep in 2023 in the NEC's inaugural season. The Red Flash claimed a 3-1 win over the Wildcats on Apr. 15, 2023 to win the first ever NEC Regular Season Championship.
LAST TIME OUT
Saint Francis is currently 12-8 overall and 4-0 in the Northeast Conference. Their last two matches saw them lose to No. 10 Penn State in back-to-back five set duels on Mar. 16-17.
Zini leads the NEC in kills(258) and service aces(45). The junior opposite notched his third First Point/NEC Player of the Week honor after tallying 50 kills, 13 digs, five service aces, and five blocks in three matches last week. He had back-to-back 20+ kill performances in two matches against the Nittany Lions, tallying 20 and 23.
Andrew Deardorff(168) and Brady Stump(139) have reached over 100 kills as well. Parker engineers this offensive output with an NEC-leading 607 assists. The senior setter sits at 1,999 career assists, one away from becoming the fifth player in program history with 2,000.
Rounding out the team leaders is Peyton Blain, who has accounted for an NEC-leading 215 digs. That total puts him first across Division-I and II men's volleyball. The 28 that he tallied in the three matches against Tusculum and Penn State helped him receive his eighth NEC Prime Performer selection.
The other defensive leader is Nicholas Lynch, who has 44 blocks.
UP NEXT
Men's Volleyball will remain at home for two matches against Merrimack Mar. 28-29.
