AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College volleyball players Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) and Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) were named recipients of weekly accolades from the East Coast Conference today, recognizing performances for matches played from September 8-13.  McKrell was named the ECC's Setter of the Week while Drzymala picked up Rookie of the Week honors.  Both players helped Daemen (3-5 overall) to a split of their four matches at the Charger Invitational hosted by University of New Haven last week.

McKrell, a 5-foot-8 sophomore, topped 30 assists in all four matches to finish the week with an ECC-leading 9.93 assist per set.  That included a season-high 37 assists in the Wildcats' tough five-set loss to the tournament host Chargers, a team that advanced to the "Elite Eight" of the NCAA Tournament after capturing the East Region title last season.  McKrell went on to record 32 and 36 assists, respectively, in back-to-back wins over Assumption College and Georgian Court University on Saturday.  

Now two weeks into the 2015 season, McKrell's 237 total assists rank second in the ECC and her 8.78 assists per set rank third.  Today's announcement marks the second time in her young career that she's earned ECC Setter of the Week honors, doing so for the period of September 22-28 last season.

Drzymala was the league's top rookie last week after being named to the all-tournament team at the Charger Invitational.  In the tournament, she tallied 57 kills, 34 digs and 12 service aces, and she becomes the first Daemen player to garner ECC Rookie of the Week honors since the Wildcats joined the league back in 2013.

Drzymala's performances last week included a pair of double-doubles.  She put up 12 kills and matched a season-high with 14 digs in the loss to New Haven, later contributing 15 kills and 10 digs in the win over Georgian Court.

Just eight matches into her career, Drzymala currently leads the ECC in service aces (23) and service aces per set (0.85).  Her 80 total kills currently rank fourth in the league, and first among all ECC freshmen.

McKrell, Drzymala and the rest of the Wildcats compete in their 2015 home opener this Wednesday, September 16 versus Le Moyne College in a non-conference affair.  Look for a full match preview tomorrow at daemenwildcats.com and For continuing coverage on the Daemen volleyball team throughout the season, follow @DaemenAthleticsand @DaemenVB on Twitter.