Box Score AMHERST, NY - A balanced offensive attack appears to be the recipe for success for the Daemen College volleyball team this season and, for the first time this year, the home crowd was treated to a performance that proves what that balance can do for a team.  The Wildcats won their seventh consecutive match tonight, defeating the visiting Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks before an estimated crowd of 255 spectators in straight sets (25-20, 25-15, 25-16).  

Daemen had four players with six or more kills in the match, as the Wildcats improved to 11-5 on the season.  Not only did the Daemen win streak continue, so did their string of straight sets wins; the Wildcats have now dropped just one set during this span dating back to Sept. 14.

Roberts Wesleyan, who is a year ahead of Daemen in their NCAA Division II transition, falls to 5-7 on the season.

Senior outside hitter Joanna Fretthold (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda HS), the reigning USCAA Player of the Week, and junior outside hitter Jenn Karan (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park HS) led the way for Daemen with nine kills apiece and a combined .272 attack percentage.  

The Fretthold-Karan duo took over in the the second and third games after Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen HS) opened the match by dominating up front for the Wildcats.  The sophomore middle blocker finished the match with seven kills in 16 attempts along with four blocks.

Fellow sophomore Lindsey Nowak (Hamburg, NY/Immaculata Acad.) fared well on the right side for the Wildcats as well, finishing with six kills, two solo blocks and two assisted blocks.

In the opening set, the teams split the first 18 points before Daemen took control, behind the strong play of Wang.  The Wildcats opened up a 19-12 lead after taking 10 of the next 13 points.  The Redhawks battled back but never got within four points of the Daemen lead.

Game two started similarly, tied at 6-6 in the opening moments.  A Karan kill after a long rally gave Daemen a 15-10 lead, before she struck again to make the score 20-12.  When Fretthold added a kill to make the score 24-13, the game was all but over.

Trailing 17-10 in the third, the Redhawks fell apart with five attack errors in the final 14 points, allowing Daemen to walk away with the three-set victory.

In addition to the victory, the night was doubly satisfying for Daemen players, coaches and fans as the team presented its' Spike for Strength Night in honor of freshman middle blocker Mackenzie Knihinicki (Lakeview, NY/Frontier HS) who was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma this past spring.  Knihinicki, who was medically cleared to begin competing with the team last week, made the first start of her college career and the event raised more than $1,100 which will be donated to Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

The Wildcats are back in action tomorrow night when they travel to Syracuse to face another NCAA Division II opponent - the LeMoyne Dolphins - at 7pm.