AMHERST, N.Y. – Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen) combined for 29 kills to lead the Daemen College volleyball team to a straight-sets victory (25-20, 25-14, 25-19) over Roberts Wesleyan College in an East Coast Conference matchup at home in Lumsden Gymnasium tonight.

With the win, the Wildcats improve to an even 11-11 overall and 6-3 in ECC play, as they attempt to keep pace with the upper-echelon of the league in the hunt for one of four ECC Tournament berths. This Wildcat victory keeps the squad in a tie for third in the ECC standings, with an identical league record to that of N.Y. Institute of Technology. RWC's tough season continues as they drop to 1-17 with a 1-8 mark in conference competition.

Amber Drzymala, a 5-foot-9 junior outside hitter, had one of her best matches of the season as she posted double-double figures.  She was close to perfect as she paced the team with 18 kills and just a single hitting error to earn herself a .654 hitting percentage on the night. Her defense was steady as well, as she and her sister, freshman outside hitter Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster), both led the team with 10 digs each.  Ashley posted yet another double-double, adding 10 kills to the Wildcat cause. Earlier in the day, she was named ECC Rookie of the Week for the third time this season, and the second consecutive week, and her double-double versus RWC gives her three-straight such efforts, and six double-doubles in the Wildcats' last eight outings.

Wang was powerful at the net with 11 kills on 18 attempts along with two solo blocks.  Sophomore setter Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) tallied 42 assists for the Wildcats on the night.    

Courtney Taylor led RWC in defeat with six kills on the night while Elisabeth Rivera tallied 17 assists.  Rivera also led the team with eight digs while adding three aces and a block. 

RWC led for a short time during the first match but once Daemen tied the game at 3-3, they never looked back. The Redhawks closed in on the Wildcat lead by going on a five-point run to close the gap to just two points with a score of 20-18.  Ashley Drzymala would have the last word as she drilled a kill right through the double block on the other side of the net as Daemen won the opening set, 25-20.

Daemen earned an early lead at the start of the second set with an eight-point run.  Amber Drzymala was instrumental during this spurt as she put down a handful of kills.  Another five-point run would strengthen the Wildcat lead to 18-7, but Roberts Wesleyan was not finished.  A seven-point spurt closed the point gap to make thing a little interesting before Wang put down two kills and a block to end the second set for Daemen, 25-14.

Freshman Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) began the third set with an ace to set the tone for the rest of the game.  Anjali Thomson was able to put away three-straight kills for RWC to tie the game at 3-3.  Daemen would improve with strong hits and big hands up at the net as freshman Karissa Hegens (Harker Heights, Texas/Harker Heights) was strong in the middle for the Wildcats in the frame. Daemen would end the final set 25-19 and with that, end the match.

The win tonight was Daemen's second over their thruway rivals from RWC in the last week.  The Wildcats took a three-set victory last Wednesday, October 14 in Rochester in the two teams' first meeting of the season.  With the season sweep in hand, Daemen is now 12-5 against RWC since 2009.

Daemen will cap their season-long four-match homestand with an ECC match against Mercy College on Sunday, October 25 at 1:00 p.m. in Lumsden Gymnasium.