DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – The Daemen College women's volleyball team earned their first East Coast Conference win today against Mercy College, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-21) in the opening action of a tri-match at Mercy Gymnasium.  The win places the Wildcats at 1-0 in conference play and marks the first time Daemen has won its ECC opener since joining the league back in 2013. 

The Wildcats went on to fall to Bentley University in a competitive non-conference match, 3-0 (26-28, 12-25, 24-26).  Today's split puts the Wildcats at 6-7 overall this season.

A coin toss in favor of Mercy gave the opening serve to the Mavericks however, freshman Karissa Hegens (Harker Heights, Texas/Harker Heights) was able to capitalize on the first ball opportunity to earn the initial point of the first set.  Three consecutive Maverick points set the Wildcats back but the lead was regained after a pair of kills from freshman Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and sophomore Jenna Reeser (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) off the hands of sophomore setter Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder).  Sophomore Paige Recore (Pennelville, N.Y./John C. Birdlebough) picked up back-to-back blocks to give Daemen a 7-5 lead.  Daemen was able to win six of the following nine points where four different Wildcats put down at least one kill.  A handful of Wildcat errors gave the Mavericks hope but that was soon crippled due to a huge kill from redshirt-senior Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen) to close the first set for Daemen, 25-20.

Mercy came out strong in the second by winning seven of the first nine points to earn an early lead.  A kill by Wang off the hands of McKrell followed by an ace by Recore closed the gap slightly; however a pair of errors gave the Mavericks an 11-5 advantage.  Wildcat errors were answered with two Maverick errors where Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) capitalized on this opportunity with a roll shot to the back right corner to give Daemen a three-point spurt.  Amber would go on to earn the next three Wildcat points off of her kills while her sister Ashley tallied in with a kill of her own as Wang followed the trend to close the gap by one.  Ashley Drzymala kept her sister serving the final six points as she had a big kill followed by a solo block and another quick kill off the hands of McKrell to have the final say of the second set to advance Daemen, 25-22.

The third set held many more runs for each team as Daemen had a four-point run that was counteracted by a five-point run by Mercy.  Daemen would keep Ashley Drzymala serving while they took advantage of Maverick errors to earn a one-point lead of 12-11.  Ashley Drzymala would have back-to-back kills that were followed by one from Wang while McKrell was there to assist the pair of Wildcat power hitters and put the team up 19-17.  Amber Drzymala would add three more kills to the set before McKrell ended the game with a powerful topspin serve as Daemen won 25-21.  Daemen closed the contest in three sets and earned their first ECC win of the season. 

Mercy was led by Sa'Naya Johnson who tallied five kills while Michelle Luna was able to add in 10 assists.  Ashley Drzymala had an impressive show as she posted a double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs as well as two aces, a pair of blocks and an assist.  Wang was able to lead the team in blocks with three and also added six kills.
Immediately after their first conference win, Daemen was up to face Bentley University.

Daemen earned the first point on the board as Wang put down a quick set from McKrell to begin the contest.   Bentley would answer back by winning five of the next six points to gain an early edge.  Hegens, Reeser and Ashley Drzymala were able to put down one kill apiece in order to tie the score, 9-9.  The Wildcats would go on a run to earn 10 of the next 13 points where Wang was monumental.  A kill from Bentley outside hitter Shelby Kreienberg would tie to game at 24-24.  Errors are what did the Wildcats in as Bentley sealed the game with an ace with a score of 28-26.

Freshman Courtney Bernard (Lancaster, Ohio/Fairfield Union) was able to put Daemen on the board first with a swift kill from the hands of McKrell.  Bentley answered with four-straight points by using Wildcat errors to their advantage.  Recore was able to tally back-to-back aces to chip away at the Bentley lead.  The Falcons were able to go on an 11-point run to keep Celia Cristofoli serving and she crushed four aces and gained a lead of 20-8.  Though Wang added two kills, Daemen would not be able to bounce back from this deficit and dropped the set 25-12.

Ashley Drzymala started the third set off with a kill as Daemen again earned the first point.  Ashley was able to tally six kills in this final set but the Falcons were able to come out on top 26-24 to finish the game.  

Ashley Drzymala again led the team in kills with 14 while she also added two aces and six digs.  McKrell earned 32 assists and two blocks of her own along with six digs.  Wang was able to put down seven kills, three blocks and an assist.  The Falcons were led by Shelby Kreienberg who had 11 kills and 2 blocks. 

Daemen will be back on the court on Tuesday, September 29 as they head to Edinboro, Pa. to compete against Edinboro University at 7:00 p.m. 

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