Williamsville South's Melissa Postek, flanked by her parents Kevin and Donna, inks her National Letter of Intent to play volleyball at Daemen

Women's Volleyball 11/19/2015 10:00:00 AM

Daemen Volleyball Inks Four Recruits During Early Signing Period

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College volleyball coaching staff announced today the signings of four recruits during the NCAA's early signing period for the high school graduating class of 2016, bringing in a pair of local standouts in Melissa Postek (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) and Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden), as well as Colorado-native Sydney MacInnis (Superior, Colo./Fairview) and Romanian-born Cristina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania/Targu Mures).

In a combined statement, the volleyball coaching staff consisting of head coach Robert Maxwell, associate head coach Stephanie Albano and assistant coach Kaley Vazquez expressed their collective excitement about the additions, saying "The signings of these four outstanding young ladies to become the next class of Daemen Volleyball is a big step for the entire program. All four are tall, athletic and very talented players who will immediately make the program stronger with their presence in our gym. Their strengths will compliment the strengths of our returning team, and will also help us to shore up areas where we were lacking this past season."

Postek is a 6-foot right-side hitter/middle blocker who comes to Daemen after a dominant career locally at Williamsville South High School, one of the premier programs in Erie County Interscholastic Conference (ECIC) and Section VI. Postek, who leaves as the Billies' all-time leader in kills, led the program to it's first-ever New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) championship, winning the Class B title in 2014 to conclude the Billies' 18-5 campaign.

A two-time All-ECIC selection, with a third likely to be announced in the coming weeks, Postek earned first-team All-Western New York honors in 2014, and she'll likely be in the hunt for that honor again after helping the Billies to another successful season in 2015 (15-5).

"Melissa gives us size and blocking ability on the right side, while bringing the versatility to play any of the three front row positions," the statement from the coaching staff read.

Ballou is a 6-foot outside hitter, and her name should ring some bells for Daemen fans. She is the sister of Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) who just completed her freshman season for Daemen as the team's starting libero. With Meghan joining sister Kailey, it gives the Wildcats a second pair of sisters on the team, joining Ashley and Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster).

Meghan Ballou comes from another local powerhouse, lettering for the Eden Raiders and coach Stephen Pierce, the all-time winningest volleyball coach in New York State history. While there, Ballou has led the Raiders to four NYSPHSAA Class C championships. She has previously been named to the All-NYSPHSAA Tournament team, and was a second-team All-Western New York pick as a junior. This year, Ballou has led her team to a 19-6 record thus far as their season continues at the NYSPHSAA Championships this weekend.

"Meghan gives us more size and depth on the left side, and she's going to be a great compliment to our returning outside hitters. Her presence will create serious competition for playing time which all great teams have," read the coaching staff's statement.

MacInnis is a 5-foot-11 setter who will make the more than 1,500-mile move to Amherst after starring for the Fairview Knights in suburban Denver. MacInnis' signing gives the Wildcats some depth at the position behind incumbent starter Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder), the only setter on the roster in 2014, who became just the fifth player in team history to top 1,000 assists in a single season.

"Sydney will be a great compliment to Katie who did an outstanding job for us this past season. Her presence will allow us to present multiple different looks to opponents," the coaching staff's statement read.

If you thought MacInnis had a long trip ahead of her, Apostol will travel nearly 5,000 miles to join the team next summer. She's a 6-foot middle blocker whom the coaching staff expects to fill the void created by the graduation of Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen) who closed out her stellar career this season.

"Cristina, with her international experience, will instantly help us in the middle. With three returning players who all played significant time this past season, the addition of Cristina makes this position one of our strengths going into next season," read the coaching staff's statement.

The four recruits, all of whom signed National Letters of Intent, will join a Daemen program that is on the rise. A year removed from a 2-27 campaign, Maxwell's squad rebounded in his first year roaming the sidelines to achieve an overall record of 12-17, and a 7-9 mark in East Coast Conference play that placed the Wildcats in a fifth-place tie in the league standings. Losing just the afore-mentioned Wang and fellow middle blocker Mackenzie Knihinicki (Lakeview, N.Y./Frontier) to graduation, the Wildcats are set to return players responsible for 80-percent of their kills, 99-percent of their assists, 97-percent of their service aces and 96-percent of their digs from this past season.

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Players Mentioned

#13 Amber Drzymala: OH; 5' 9"; Junior

#14 Mackenzie Knihinicki: MB; 5' 9"; Senior

#7 Ye Wang: MB; 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior

#1 Kailey Ballou: L; 5' 7"; Freshman

#11 Katie McKrell: S; 5' 8"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#13 Amber Drzymala
: 5' 9"; Junior
: OH

#14 Mackenzie Knihinicki
: 5' 9"; Senior
: MB

#7 Ye Wang
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior
: MB

#1 Kailey Ballou
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: L

#11 Katie McKrell
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: S