As the team's lone senior, Amber Drzymala hopes to lead Daemen to the ECC Tournament in 2016

Women's Volleyball 8/24/2016 12:51:00 PM

Daemen Volleyball Picked Fourth In ECC Preseason Poll

2016 ECC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON POLL
Rank	School	Pts.	2015 Record
1	NYIT (4)	60	28-8, 12-4 ECC
2	Bridgeport (4)	58	27-9, 15-1 ECC
3	LIU Post	48	23-11, 10-6 ECC
4	DAEMEN	34	12-17, 7-9 ECC
5	Queens	32	11-15, 7-9 ECC
6	Molloy	28	6-23, 4-12 ECC
T-7	Mercy	14	7-26, 2-14 ECC
T-7	Roberts Wesleyan	14	7-26, 2-14 ECC
( ) - first place votes

AMHERST, N.Y. - With four starters returning as well as the team's primary libero, the Daemen College women's volleyball team has been picked to finish fourth in the East Coast Conference this season, according to the ECC preseason poll which was released today from conference headquarters in Central Islip, N.Y. following a vote of the league's eight head coaches.

Daemen earned 34 points in the coaches' voting, just edging out fifth-place Queens College (32 points). A fourth-place finish this season would give the Wildcats their first-ever berth in conference tournament play at the NCAA Division II level. After going 7-3 over their first 10 league games last season, a young Wildcat squad suffered six straight defeats down the stretch to finish in a tie for fifth place in the league standings, just out of contention for an ECC Tournament bid.

"I think that the whole conference is going to be extremely competitive once again," said first-year head coach Stephanie Albano who was promoted to the position earlier this year after serving as the team's Associate Head Coach last fall. "It's nice to be recognized with a top-four ranking since that is one of our team goals for this season, but a preseason poll isn't going to determine our fate. We showed a lot of promise with a young roster last season, and hopefully we can build off the success we had. We need to go out and compete each and every night, and let the chips fall where they may. I am very excited to get the season underway next week."

N.Y. Institute of Technology, which advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight after winning their first-ever East Region Championship last season, topped the poll in a tightly contested vote. Coming off their 28-8 campaign and returning 10 players, the Bears (60 points) edged out University of Bridgeport (58 points) in the coaches' vote. Bridgeport went 27-9 last season, falling in the East Region title game to NYIT after knocking off the Bears to win their fourth straight ECC crown.

The league also sent Long Island University Post to NCAA Tournament play last season, their fifth straight appearance. The Pioneers, who finished with a 23-11 overall record in 2015, round out the poll's top three after gaining 48 points.

Following Daemen and Queens, Molloy College (28 points) came in sixth place, while Mercy College and Roberts Wesleyan College finished tied for seventh with 14 points apiece.

Among NYIT's returners is Karolina Moderova who was announced as the ECC Preseason Player of the Year in addition to the preseason poll announcement today. Moderova was a first-team All-ECC pick last season after finishing second in the league with 434 kills.

Daemen is set to return seven players from last season's roster which finished 12-17 overall, up from just two wins the previous season, and 7-9 in ECC play. Among the returners is sophomore outside hitter Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) who was selected as the ECC Rookie of the Year after leading the league in both kills per set (3.60) and service aces per set (0.51) while ranking fifth in total kills (360). Also back is her sister, Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster), a seasoned veteran with 83 matches under her belt as an outside hitter. Incumbent starting setter Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) returns after becoming just the fifth player in team history to surpass 1,000 assists in a season, and the first since 2009. Junior middle blocker/right-side hitter Rachel Stephenson (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) rounds out the team's returning starters, while sophomore libero Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) is back after posting a team-high 347 digs last season.

Daemen opens its 2016 season on September 2-3 at the Ram Fest tournament hosted by West Chester University. ECC play gets underway on September 24 when the Wildcats visit Molloy. The ECC Tournament will feature the top four teams in the final regular season standings with the overall No. 1 seed hosting both semifinal matches on November 18, and the tournament finals on November 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

#11 Katie McKrell: S; 5' 8"; Junior

#18 Rachel Stephenson: MB/RS; 5' 9"; Junior

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#11 Katie McKrell
: 5' 8"; Junior
: S

#18 Rachel Stephenson
: 5' 9"; Junior
: MB/RS