AMHERST, N.Y. - For the second time in as many days, and the third time in as many home matches this season, the Daemen College volleyball team came out victorious in a five-set affair, defeating Queens College, 3-2 (25-9, 26-28, 25-19, 19-25, 15-11), in an East Coast Conference Saturday matinee at Lumsden Gymnasium.

Today's win comes less than 16 hours after the Wildcats dispacthed of ECC foe Molloy College in another five-set thriller before the Wildcat faithful.  Today's result evens the Wildcats' overall mark at 8-8 this season, while propelling them to 3-0 in conference play.  With the loss, Queens falls to 4-8 overall, and 1-3 in ECC matches.  The Knights entered today's contests looking for its own weekend sweep having defeated Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester last night, 3-0.

Once again it was Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen) leading the way for the Wildcats.  The 6-foot-1 senior middle blocker, who totaled season-highs of 18 kills and seven blocks in last night's defeat of Molloy, was back it again, tallying a match-high 17 kills and adding five blocks.  Wang, who notched her 1,000th career kill earlier this season, has now totaled 35 kills in her last two matches, attacking at a .400 clip in those outings.

Daemen jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening set and never looked back, getting back-to-back kills from Wang to open the match.  The Wildcats would extend their lead to 14-4 when sophomore Alicia Contreras (Arcadia, Calif./Arcadia) connected on four consecuitve service aces.  Queens would get no closer than eight points for the remainder of the set, and with the Wildcats leading 18-8, Daemen closed out the period by winning eight of the final nine points.

But, Queens regrouped and built a 16-11 lead in the second set, keyed by back-to-back kills from Bianca Steele.  Daemen would come back to pull within two, 21-19, after rattling off four-straight points that included three QC attack errors and a Wang kill.  Queens would again forge ahead, this time putting Daemen on the brink of dropping the set at 24-21.  This time, Daemen battled all the way back with three-straight points to knot the score, again aided by three QC attack errors.  After trading points, Queens evened the match by winning two-straight points, one on a Daemen error, the second on a kill by Else Buchmiller.

The third set opened much like the first as Daemen raced to leads of 6-0, 9-3 and eventually 15-8.  Sophomores Jenna Reeser (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) and Paige Recore (Pennelville, N.Y./John C. Birdlebough) keyed the run as Reeser put down three of her 10 kills and Recore notched two of her three service aces.  Later in the set, with Daemen leading 22-13, Queens would make things interesting by winning six of the next eight points to pull within five (24-19), but a kill from Wildcat sophomore Rachel Stephenson (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) closed any hopes of a Knights' comeback in the set.

With an opportunity to close the match in four sets, Daemen slept-walked through the opening portion of the period, falling behind 11-2 while committing five attack errors.  The Wildcats would pull within four at 15-11, winning four-straight points, three of which came on Wang kills.  But, the hosts could get no closer as the Knights forced the pivotal fifth and deciding set.

In the fifth, with Daemen leading 5-4, the Wildcats won four of the next five points to establish control, getting kills from Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster), Reeser and Stephenson in the spurt.  After a kill by Steele temporarily squashed the momentum, Daemen put two more points on the board as freshmen Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) got in on the party, the first with a kill and the second with a service ace to extend the Daemen lead to 11-6.  Queens would go on to pull within three (14-11), but an Amber Drzymala kill on the ensuing point closed out the set and the match for the Wildcats.

Ashley Drzymala accounted for 12 kills and 12 digs in the match for her second consecutive double-double.  Reeser's 10 kills marked her second double-figure kill performance of the season.  Daemen also got 46 assists from sophomore setter Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder), the reigning ECC Setter of the Week.  Amber Drzymala added eight kills and 14 digs.

Also contributing for Daemen was the back-row combo of Ballou (19 digs) and Recore (12 digs) who combined for 31 digs.  Add in serving specialist Contreras (four service aces) and the trio combined for 10 of Daemen's 12 service aces in the match.

Arielle DiCocco, a second-team All-ECC pick last season, paced the Knights with 15 kills and nine blocks, but no other Queens player recorded more than seven kills.  Kristen Moore (21 assists, 10 digs), Jessica Yin (16 assists) and Xhesi Domi (17 digs) also contributed for the Knights.

Daemen is now 3-1 in five-set matches this season.  In addition to today's win, and last night's defeat of Molloy, the Wildcats took down visiting Le Moyne College at Lumsden Gymnasium on September 16.  The Wildcats' lone loss in such matches came on the road on September 11 versus University of New Haven, a team which captured the 2014 NCAA Division II East Regional Championship.  The three wins in five-set matches are the most for Daemen since racking up six such victories in the 2011 season, finishing that year at 26-15 overall.

Next on the docket is a challenging road trip for the Wildcats as they visit N.Y. Institute of Technology (Friday, October 9) and Long Island University Post (Saturday, October 10) next weekend.  The Bears and Pioneers have combined to go 20-7 so far this season, and were picked fourth and second, respectively, in the ECC preseason poll.

For continuing coverage on the Daemen volleyball team throughout the season, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.