BUFFALO, N.Y. – The D'Youville University Men's Volleyball team was defeated by the Daemen University Wildcats on Thursday night at the College Center.

D'Youville University 0 vs Daemen University 3 – 16-25, 12-25,
Set One
The Saints hung with the Wildcats early in set one after back-to-back kills from Shaun Vattakuzhiyil (Sugar Land, TX / Elkins) tied the game at two. From there, the Wildcats took off climbing as the Saints worked to stay with them. D'Youville was unable to catch the Wildcats and they reached a lead of 24-15. Vattakuzhiyil got the final kill for the Saints in the set and the Wildcats would win set one 25-16.

Set Two
The Saints took the 2-0 lead in set two following a Wildcat error and a kill from Haven Wankerl (Cross Plains, Wisc. / Middleton). The Wildcats came right back to take the lead to bring the score to 16-7. The Saints got two back after kills from Tymek Brzoza (Tychy, Poland) and Ian De Wilde (Lockport, N.Y. / Starpoint), but the Wildcats continued to climb and would take set two 25-12.

Set Three
The Wildcats kept momentum going into set three after leading the way to a score of 12-5. Kills from De Wilde and Vattakuzhiyil kept the Saints in the game, but the Wildcats kept rolling on offense. As Daemen reached 24 with the Saints at 14, Haven Wankerl recorded the last kill for the Saints and the Wildcats would take set three 25-15 and the match 3-0.  

Saints Stats
Shaun Vattakuzhiyil recorded seven kills on the night to lead the Saints offense while Randy Adorno (Bayamon, Puerto Rico / Winter Park) recorded 17 assists. Haven Wankerl recorded the Saints lone serving ace. Nathan Dishaw (Carolina Beach, NC / Kettle Moraine) recorded six digs on the night to lead D'Youville's defense.

Up Next
The D'Youville Men's Volleyball team is back in action on Saturday, March 2, 2024, for a non-conference home against Harvard University. The match is set to begin at 1:00 PM in the College Center.