Buffalo, NY - The D'Youville men's volleyball team opened up their 2020 season on Sunday afternoon, falling to the visiting Division II Daemen Wildcats 3-0.

Daemen took an early lead in the first set, going up 9-1 over the Spartans. The Wildcats would maintain their lead as they were ahead 14-6 before going on to win the first 25-12.

The second saw D'Youville come out and play very well. Through the first several points, the Spartans led 7-4. Daemen would come back to take the lead 17-13, but D'Youville would then come back to tie the set at 21-21. However, the Wildcats would come back to take the second 25-23.

In the third, the Wildcats got out to an early lead again as they were up by six at 9-3. D'Youville would then go on a 5-0 scoring run to trail by one. The teams would continue to battle before Daemen pulled away at the end of the set, winning the third 25-15 and the match 3-0.

Freshman Dan Busha (Hamburg, NY/St. Francis) led the team with six kills in his first collegiate match, adding five digs. Mitch Mason (Eden, NY/Eden) tallied a team-high seven digs with Karl Jauch (Lockport, NY/Starpoint) adding 11 assists.

Ali Khadra (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East) registered three kills, a block and three digs. Both Joshua Hoy (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) and Danny Steck (Lancaster, NY/St. Francis) tallied two kills with Anthony Dean (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) recording three. Troy Stancampiano (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East) played in two sets in the match.

D'Youville will next play on Saturday, February 1 at Misericordia with their first match coming at 2:00pm against Elizabethtown. Their second match of the day will be played right after at 4:00pm against Misericordia.