AMHERST, NY - For the second straight year the Daemen Wildcats pulled off an upset of sorts earning a 3-1 victory (26-24, 26-24, 22-25, 25-22) over the visiting Mercyhurst Lakers of NCAA Division II at Lumsden Gymnasium tonight.  With the win, the Wildcats, who earned Top 25 votes for the second consecutive week, improve to 13-5 on the season;  Mercyhurst falls to 5-4.

"It was good to get a win even though we were definitely not at our best," said Daemen head coach Mark Parisi.  "Our first contact has been so good on the road.  We need to generate the same level of ball control at home.  They've been working hard so I know the consistency at home is right around the corner."

The Wildcats were led in the match by junior Joanna Fretthold (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda HS) who pounded down a team-best 14 kills to go with 12 digs.  Sophomore Jenn Karan (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park HS) chipped in with 11 kills and eight digs.

Freshman middle blocker Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen HS) had nine kills and four blocks while classmate Lindsey Nowak (West Seneca, NY/Immaculata Acad.) was next with eight kills in just 16 attempts.

Junior libero Katie Auge (Salamanca, NY/Salamanca HS) led the Daemen defense with 16 digs a near flawless performance in the serve receive category.

Setters Kaley Vazquez (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore West HS) and Kimmie Mack (Livonia, NY/Livonia HS) were in point once again with 25 and 17 assists, respectively.