THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's volleyball team heads to Edinboro, Pa. tomorrow (Tuesday, September 29) to compete in its final non-conference match of the season against Edinboro University in the McComb Field House on the Edinboro campus. 

Tuesday, September 29
Daemen vs. Edinboro, 7:00 p.m.
DC ROSTER / EU ROSTER / DC STATS / EU STATS

DIVISION II DEBUT: Daemen successfully completed a three-year membership process and was approved for active membership status at the NCAA Division II level by the NCAA Membership Committee his past summer…Daemen was accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) in July of 2012 and began playing full regular-season conference schedules in the fall of 2013…the 2015-16 academic year will mark the first year Daemen will be eligible for ECC and NCAA post-season play. 

MEET THE NEW BOSS: Bob Maxwell enters his first season as the head women's volleyball coach at Daemen…a longtime fixture in the Western New York volleyball scene, Maxwell comes to Daemen after spending 32 years in a variety of roles at the University at Buffalo…he led the Bulls' women's volleyball program from 1981-98, a period of time which saw the program ascend from Division III to Division II and eventually to Division I…in that span, Maxwell's teams achieved a record of 409-285-8, giving Maxwell more wins than any coach in any sport in UB's history…he will be assisted by Stephanie Albano and Kaley Vazquez.

THE WILDCATS (6-7): Daemen returns eight players from last year's team that posted a 2-27 overall record and a 2-14 mark in the East Coast Conference…the Wildcats were voted sixth in the 2015 ECC preseason poll…first-year head coach Bob Maxwell will also welcome Ye Wang back to the fold…Wang, a first-team All-ECC selection in 2013, sat out the 2014 season…the 6-1 senior led the team in kills (397) and blocks (97) in 2013…also topping the list of returning players are junior Amber Drzymala and sophomores Katie McKrell and Jenna Reeser…Drzymala led the team in service aces (36) and digs (280) and ranked second in kills (268) last year…McKrell paced the team in sets (612), while Reeser ranked third in kills (165), fourth in blocks (25) and fifth in digs (96)…after opening the season with one win in their first six matches, the Wildcats are 5-2 over their last seven matches...a pair of three-set wins over Assumption and Georgian Court on the second day of Charger Invitational ignited the string of solid play...freshman Ashley Drzymala was named to the all-tournament team after posting 57 kills, 34 digs and 12 service aces...the Wildcats ran their winning streak to three-straight by defeating Le Moyne in a five-set thriller at Lumsden Gymnasium on Sept. 16 in the team's 2015 home opener...the Drzymala sisters were key to the victory, combining for 49 kills while both setting personal career-highs (Amber - 25, Ashley - 24)...McKrell tossed in 57 assists and 16 digs for her second double-double of the season...the result marked the Wildcats' first five-set win since October 29, 2013 over Roberts Wesleyan, and the team's first five-set win when dropping the first two sets since September 3, 2011 in a neutral site match versus Oklahoma City University...since then, Daemen has participated in back-to-back tri-matches, one at Saint Rose (September 19) and one at Mercy (September 26)...at Saint Rose, Daemen fell to Clarion (3-0), an NCAA Tournament qualifier last season that went 30-5, before besting the host Golden Knights (3-0), another NCAA Tournament team from 2014...the tri-match at Mercy featured Daemen's first ECC match of the year against the host Mavericks, who Daemen dispatched, 3-0, picking up their first road win in the all-time series...the Wildcats are coming off a 3-0 loss to Bentley...Ashley Drzymala has keyed the Wildcats uprising of late...the 5-foot-10 outside hitter has recorded double-figure kills in eight of the Wildcats' last nine matches...through 13 matches this season, the younger Drzymala leads the team in kills (155) and service aces (31)...the elder Drzymala and Wang have chipped in with 100 and 94 kills, respectively, while Wang leads the team in blocks (28)...McKrell's 417 total assists rank second in the ECC, and her 9.48 assists per set rank third...additional production has come from Reeser (66 kills, 11 blocks) sophomore Rachel Stephenson (44 kills, 19 blocks) and freshman libero Kailey Ballou (170 digs). 

THE FIGHTING SCOTS (13-2): Edinboro returns 12 players under the leadership of Missy Soboleski who is in her ninth season as head coach of the Fighting Scotts...Soboleski holds the achievement of most consecutive wins in school history with 16-straight during the 2010 season, as well as a third-place spot in all-time career wins with 204 under her belt entering the 2015 season…the Fighting Scotts achieved an overall record of 21-13 last season…Edinboro returns all but one of last season's leaders including Jen Gruber (296 kills), Sydney Trathen (839 assists), Challen Litwiler (54 aces), and Maria Concheck (110 blocks)…the challenge for the Fighting Scotts will be replacing defensive stalwart Haley Marett who led the team with 654 digs last season…Edinboro opened their season with a three-game winning streak…the team dropped a match against Northwest Missouri State University but bounced back with 10 consecutive wins…their latest contest was a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover tournament…Edinboro beat Millersville, Shippensburg and Lock Haven but ended the weekend with a loss to PSAC Eastern Division favorite Pitt-Johnstown…the Fighting Scotts are currently 3-1 in conference play…Edinboro is led by Litwiler with 224 kills and 32 aces…Trathen continues to impress by leading the team with 547 assists thus far this season…Marah Maycock leads the defense with 214 digs while Victoria Severo holds down 47 blocks.

THE HISTORY:  The Wildcats and Fighting Scots will meet for the ninth-straight season...Edinboro has had the upper hand of late, winning seven of the eight meetings since 2007, including a pair of five-setters, one in 2008, another in 2013...the Fighting Scots came out on top, 3-1, in last year's meeting on October 7 at Lumsden Gym...Marah Maycock notched a double-double with 13 kills and 20 digs to lead EU...Jenna Reeser contributed a match-high 14 kills and Paige Recore recorded a career-best 14 digs in defeat for the Wildcats...Daemen's last win in the series came on October 9, 2012, a 3-0 victory at Lumsden Gym...Jenn Karan led the way for Daemen with 10 kills while Joanna Fretthold narrowly missed a double-double, contributing nine kills and a team-high 15 digs in the win...the two teams first met on October 10, 1997, a 3-0 Edinboro win during Daemen's inaugural season of intercollegiate volleyball.

ROAD WARRIORS: Tuesday's match marks the end of a murderous stretch for the Wildcats who have opened the 2015 season by playing 13 of its first 14 matches away from the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium…Daemen has played 153 matches since the start of the 2011 season and 121 of the 153 matches have been played away from Lumsden Gym…the Wildcats are 64-57 (.529) on the road since the start of the 2011 season.

WHAT'S NEXT:  Daemen will be host a pair of ECC opponents this weekend when Molloy and Queens come to Lumsden Gymnasium...Daemen will compete against Molloy at 7 p.m. on Friday (October 2) and follow the contest with a match against Queens at 11 a.m. Saturday (October 3)...the matches  mark Daemen's first home ECC tilts of the 2015 season.

FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College women's volleyball on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics /@DaemenVB) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.