AMHERST, N.Y.- Burdened with having to play their second match in less than seventeen hours after last night's five-set loss to Dowling College, the Daemen College women's volleyball team dropped their second straight - a heartbreaking five-set defeat (17-25, 15-25, 25-19, 25-14, 10-15) to the University of Bridgeport in an East Coast Conference matchup today at Lumsden Gymnasium. Despite losing the first two sets, the Wildcats battled back to push it to a fifth set, only to have their comeback attempt fall short. With the loss, Daemen fell to 8-7 on the year and 2-4 in ECC play.
 
The Purple Knights (5-1, 4-0 ECC) stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the first set, and would not trail the rest of the way en route to a 25-17 win in the opening frame. The second set proved to be a near mirror image, as Bridgeport grabbed another five point lead (6-1) to open the set, and would not let the Wildcats take a lead at any point, coasting to a 25-15 win.
 
The third set, however, played out much differently than the previous two. Daemen grabbed its first lead of the match early on (2-1), and would hold a few other one-point leads before grabbing their largest advantage of the match at 18-12. From there, the Wildcats wouldn't look back, clawing their way back into the match with  a 25-19 third-set victory, cutting the Bridgeport lead to two sets to one.
 
Revitalized by their win in the third set, Daemen powered through the fourth, handily winning 25-14 to push it to a deciding fifth set. However, it  was there that the comeback attempt gave out, as the Purple Knights claimed the final set, never trailing in the final frame to complete their victory.
 
Seniors Kaley Vazquez (Kenmore, N.Y./Kenmore West), Brittany Anthon (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) and Paige Tilert (Derby, N.Y./Genesee CC), and junior Chelsea Turcer (Alexander, N.Y./Alexander Central) anchored Daemen's comeback attempt against a Bridgeport team that has yet to lose against an ECC opponent this year.
 
Vazquez had a team-best 20 assists to go along with 14 digs, a total that was second only to Tilert's 16. Turcer added a strong all-around performance with 18 assists and 12 digs, and Anthon had a great day with 12 digs and a team-leading 13 kills, the second time this year she's posted double-digit kills. Those 13 kills were also a career high for the senior outside hitter.
 
Senior Kaitlin Watchey (Jamestown, N.Y./Jamestown) and junior Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen) each chipped in double-digit kills, as Wang posted 11 while Watchey had a season-high 10.
 
Bridgeport, whose roster features 11 foreigners from three different continents, was led by Biljana Savic (37 assists, 13 digs), Sarah Rosa (19 kills, 10 digs) and Ying Shen (23 digs, 11 kills).

The loss today, coupled with last night's gut-wrenching loss to Dowling, marked the first time Daemen has dropped consecutive home matches since losing three straight to Malone University, Edinboro University and Cedarville University in Oct. of 2010.  The Wildcats had entered this weekend's games with a six-match home winning streak.

Daemen has also now dropped six straight matches that have advanced to five sets.  Their last five-set victory came at Le Moyne College on Sept. 26, 2012.
 
The Wildcats will look to get back in the win column when they travel to Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. to face Mercy College in another ECC match next Friday night (Oct. 11).  Mercy is currently 0-3 in conference play, and 6-7 overall.