PITTSBURGH, PA - The Daemen Wildcats saw their season come to an end tonight, but not before defeating third-seeded Roberts Wesleyan and advancing to the American Mideast Conference Championship where they eventually met their fate against the top-seeded Point Park Pioneers.  With the day's split, Daemen finishes their season at 26-15, giving the Wildcats their most wins in a season since they went 26-16 in 2004 while also making their first conference championship match appearance since that same season.  Point Park, meanwhile, improves to 35-5 and advances to the finals of the NAIA Unaffiliated Grouping; they will host the winner of the Cal-Pac Conference Tournament this Saturday, November 12 for the right to appear at the NAIA National Tournament.

"I thought the girls played their best match in about a month or so," said Daemen head coach Mark Parisi.  "I was proud of the way they played.  After a stressful five-set match, coming back right after was tough, but we were able to elevate our game.  We fought hard for every point and in a tight, hostile environment, we stayed focused and delivered a strong performance.  We respect Point Park and recognize they have put together a great year.  We will miss our two seniors but are upbeat in the strength in our returning players."

In their semifinal win over the Raiders, Daemen rebounded after dropping the first set 25-15 and took control with back-to-back wins in games two and three (25-15, 25-18).  Roberts Wesleyan earned a 26-24 win in the fourth set before Daemen grabbed the match in the fifth, winning 15-11.

The Wildcats were led in the match by sophomore Jenn Karan (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park HS) who pounded down a team-best 16 kills for a solid .314 hitting percentage.  She was aided by freshman middle blocker Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen HS) who attached at a .455 clip and added 10 kills.  

Sophomore Kaley Vazquez (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore West HS) led the Daemen setters with 32 assists while freshman Chelsea Turcer (Alexander, NY/Alexander Central HS) added 18.

The Wildcats defense was paced by juniors Katie Auge (Salamanca, NY/Salamanca HS) and Joanna Fretthold (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda HS) as well as Karan who combined for 76 serve receptions with just two errors.  Auge added 23 digs while Karan contributed 13.

In the championship match, Daemen was strong at the net despite Point Park's imposing attack of Brittany Lhota and Lindsey Oberacker.  After dropping the first set 25-17, Daemen took one back at 25-16, establishing some momentum.  That led to Wildcat leads in both sets three and four, but were unable to hang on, falling 25-21 in both.

Oberacker paced Point Park with a match-high 18 kills while teammate Tayler Pugliese ran the show with 42 assists.  

Wang led the Daemen attack with 16 kills in her 31 attempts.  Karan and freshman Lindsey Nowak (West Seneca, NY/Immaculata Acad.) split 14 kills for the Wildcats who also got 39 combined assists from Vazquez and Turcer.  

Auge again led the Daemen ball control efforts with a match-best 17 digs and 31 serve receptions without an error.  

Despite falling tonight, the future of Daemen volleyball looks bright.  Seniors Kimmie Mack (Livonia, NY/Livonia HS) and Rachael Bowler (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore West HS) will be missed but the Wildcats return their big guns in Wang and Karan as well as defensive stalwarts Auge and Fretthold and setters Vazquez and Turcer along with a host of others next season.