Women's Volleyball 11/10/2016 10:20:00 AM Lea Sobieraski, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Wildcats Ascend To No. 1 Spot in Regional Rankings

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL NCAA DIVISION II EAST REGION RANKINGS - NOV. 9, 2016
Rank	School	Conference	Overall Record
1	DAEMEN	ECC	20-6
2	NYIT	ECC	24-5
3	American International	NE-10	22-5
4	Post	CACC	24-3
5	New Haven	NE-10	14-7
6	Le Moyne	NE-10	20-5
7	Adelphi	NE-10	17-10
8	Philadelphia	CACC	23-4
9	Pace	CACC	20-7
10	St. Anselm	NE-10	19-5

AMHERST, N.Y. - After a second place debut last week, the Daemen College women's volleyball team escalated to No.1 in the second NCAA Division II East Region poll of the 2016 season which was released late yesterday afternoon. This marks the first time ever Daemen has earned a No. 1 regional ranking at the Division II level in any sport. The East Region of NCAA Division II is comprised of teams from the East Coast Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and the regional rankings are used to determine at-large bids to the East Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament following the respective conference tournaments.

Daemen sits at 20-6 overall this season, having not dropped a match since October 1. Their 11-1 mark in ECC play has the Wildcats atop the league standings. After defeating the University of Bridgeport last weekend, Daemen clinched at least a share of the East Coast Conference regular season championship and secured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming ECC Tournament. By earning the No. 1 seed, Daemen was awarded the right to host the tournament which will take place at Lumsden Gymnasium on November 18-19.

Daemen ousted the four-time defending league champion Bridgeport in straight-sets (25-15, 25-20, 25-18) last Saturday. The Wildcats expelled the Purple Knights in every statistical category, holding them to a mere .081 hitting percentage.

Sophomore Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) paced the Wildcats in the win, registering a team-high 14 kills and three service aces. Additionally, she added three blocks and nine digs for an overall standout performance. The 5-foot-10 outside hitter leads Daemen and ranks second in the ECC with 344 kills this season.

Her sister, senior Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) posted nine kills and eight digs in the victory. The elder Drzymala has posted 11 double-doubles this season. She ranks fifth in the league in total kills (301) and tenth in total digs (287) making her one of just three players to rank in the top 10 of both categories. The 5-foot-9 outside hitter is closing in on 1,000 career kills to become just the third player in team history to reach both 1,000 digs and 1,000 kills in a career.

Bailey Dolegowski (Marilla, N.Y. / St. Mary's of Lancaster) and Cristina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania/Targu Mures) earned weekly honors from the East Coast Conference for their efforts in the Bridgeport sweep. Dolegowski was named the ECC Setter of the Week while Apostol claimed ECC Rookie of the Week honors. Dolegowski, a 5-foot-8 freshman, posted her 11th double-double of the season in the win, dolling out a match-high 35 assists offensively, while adding 11 digs defensively. She leads all ECC players in total assists (879) this season, while ranking third in assists per set (9.35) and fourth in service aces (38). Apostol, a 6-foot-2 freshman middle blocker, hammered down 10 kills and added a match-high four blocks in the win. She ranks fifth on the team with 112 kills this season, while posting 36 blocks.

Additional offensive production this season has come from Division I transfer Courtney Scanlan (Ellicotville, N.Y./Stony Brook University) who has posted 200 kills, and freshman Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) who has registered 132 kills and a team-high 40 blocks.

Defensively, in addition to the Drzymala's, it's been sophomore Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) stepping up of late, totaling 250 digs this season and posting 12-straight matches with at least 10 digs.

Daemen is 3-2 this season against teams ranked in the poll this week. The Wildcats have defeated No. 2 NYIT, No. 8 Philadelphia and No. 10 Saint Anselm College this season, while the losses came at No. 6 Le Moyne College and in their first meeting with NYIT. Daemen overtook the top spot from the defending East Region champions NYIT which debuted at No. 1 last week. The two squads are the lone ECC teams in the poll with five NE-10 teams and three CACC teams filling Nos. 3-10.

The current 12-game win streak is Daemen's first double-figure win streak since garnering 15 straight during the 2013 season. The streak is currently the seventh-longest streak in the country among NCAA Division II teams. Nationally, Daemen ranks 20th in team service aces (188) and 23rd in aces per set (1.88) out of a total 292 Division II teams. The Wildcats' .212 hitting percentage is good for a 64th ranking.

Daemen closes out the regular season with a pair of matches this weekend. Daemen can sew up the outright regular season ECC title with a win tonight at longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan College before returning home for the regular season finale vs. Mercy College on Sunday

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's volleyball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#10 Ashley Drzymala: OH; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#7 Courtney Scanlan: OH; 6' 1"; Redshirt Sophomore

#14 Bailey Dolegowski: S; 5' 8"; Freshman

#2 Meghan Ballou: OH; 6' 0"; Freshman

#15 Cristina Apostol: MB; 6' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

#10 Ashley Drzymala
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: OH

#7 Courtney Scanlan
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Sophomore
: OH

#14 Bailey Dolegowski
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: S

#2 Meghan Ballou
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: OH

#15 Cristina Apostol
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: MB