Women's Volleyball 11/3/2016 9:19:00 AM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Wildcats Debut In Regional Rankings At No. 2

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL NCAA DIVISION II EAST REGION RANKINGS - NOV. 2, 2016
Rank	School	Conference	Overall Record
1	NYIT	ECC	21-5
2	DAEMEN	ECC	19-6
3	American International	NE-10	20-5
4	Post	CACC	22-3
5	New Haven	NE-10	13-6
6	Le Moyne	NE-10	19-5
7	Adelphi	NE-10	15-10
8	Philadelphia	CACC	21-4
9	St. Anselm	NE-10	18-4
10	Pace	CACC	18-7

AMHERST, N.Y. - On the strength of 11 consecutive wins, the Daemen College women's volleyball team is ranked No. 2 in the first NCAA Division II East Region poll of the 2016 season which was released late yesterday afternoon. 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 19-6 overall this season, having not dropped a match since October 1. Their 10-1 mark in ECC play has the Wildcats atop the league standings with their first-ever ECC Tournament berth already clinched.

Despite two straight losses, N.Y. Institute of Technology, the defending East Region champions, come in at No. 1 in the poll. The Bears sit at 21-5 overall and 7-3 in the league with straight-sets losses to Daemen and Long Island University Post in the last five days. NYIT and Daemen are the lone ECC teams in the poll with five NE-10 teams and three CACC teams filling Nos. 3-10.

Daemen's defeat of NYIT (25-22, 25-19, 25-19) last Sunday came on the heels of their thrilling five-set win (25-19, 25-20, 21-25, 15-25, 18-16) at LIU Post the day before which clinched their conference tourney bid. The Wildcats added a 3-0 neutral site win (25-19, 25-23, 25-19) over Southern Connecticut State University on Sunday as well.

Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) paced the Wildcats in the wins, averaging 13 kills and 12 digs per match while posting three double-doubles. For her efforts, she was named the ECC Player of the Week. The 5-foot-10 outside hitter leads Daemen and ranks second in the ECC with 330 kills this season.

Her sister, senior Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster), has registered 11 double-doubles this season. She ranks fifth in the league in total kills (292) and eighth in total digs (279) making her one of just three players to rank in the top 10 of both categories.

Additional offensive production has come from Division I transfer Courtney Scanlan (Ellicottville, N.Y./Stony Brook University) who has posted 191 kills, and freshman Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) has come on of late with 92 of her 132 kills coming during the team's 11-match winning streak.

Freshman Bailey Dolegowski (Marilla, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) has been the team's top setter this season, totaling 844 assists thus far. She ranks third in the ECC in assists per set (9.27).

Defensively, in addition to the Drzymala's, it's been sophomore Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) stepping up of late. She's totaled 238 digs this season and has posted 11 straight matches with at least 10 digs.

Daemen is 3-2 this season against teams ranked in the poll this week. In addition to the afore-mentioned win over NYIT, the Wildcats have defeated No. 8 Philadelphia University and No. 9 Saint Anselm College this season, while the losses came at No. 6 Le Moyne College and in their first meeting with NYIT.

The Wildcats' 11-match winning streak has them garnering some attention from national media outlets as well. Daemen is one of five teams nominated for the HeroSports.com Division II Team of the Month for October which fans can vote for. The article notes that the Wildcats' BennettRank among Division II programs rose from No. 157 to start October up to No. 103 now. BennettRank is an objective, predictive, data-driven computer algorithm that ranks all teams by division every week from the preseason to the final game of the year.

Daemen puts its win streak on the line this Saturday, November 5 when they host four-time defending ECC champion University of Bridgeport (12-10, 8-2 ECC). The Wildcats knocked off the Purple Knights in four sets (25-23, 17-25, 25-19, 25-17) back on October 9. A win Saturday would clinch the No. 1 seed in the ECC Tournament making Daemen the tournament host. The top four teams in the final league standings qualify for the conference tournament which is slated for November 18-19.

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

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