ROCHESTER, NY - With two more wins tonight at the Roberts Wesleyan/Houghton Crossover Tournament, the Daemen Wildcats upped their overall record to 15-5 on the season as they topped Michigan-Dearborn 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 24-26, 25-14) before closing out Mountain State (WV) in straight sets (25-13, 25-9, 25-21).  Even more impressive was the fact that they did so without the help of freshman middle blocker Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen HS), the team's leader in kills and attack percentage, who missed today's action due to injury.

"We got great contributions today from our entire roster," said Daemen head coach Mark Parisi who has guided his squad to a record 10 matches over .500 for the first time in his seven year tenure.

Freshman Lindsey Nowak (West Seneca, NY/Immaculata Acad.) stepped up to fill the offensive void left by Wang's absence.  She pounded down a career-best 13 kills in the day's opener against Michigan-Dearborn and then added 10 more kills in the nightcap vs. Mountain State.

Jenn Karan (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park HS) added 12 kills against Michigan-Dearborn and senior Rachael Bowler (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore West HS) notched 10 kills for her second match of 10-plus kills this season.

Kaley Vazquez (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore West HS) led the Daemen setters on the day with 53 assists, while Kimmie Mack (Livonia, NY/Livonia HS) chipped in with 20 assists as she continues to provide great court leadership.
 
Junior libero Katie Auge (Salamanca, NY/Salamanca HS) had 28 digs and led the team with 36 serves on the day.

Parisi was especially pleased with the play of sophomore Rachel Ottaway (Sherman, NY/Sherman Central HS) who saw extensive action in the front row filling in for Wang.  She totaled 10 kills and eight blocks for the two matches.

"I'm really excited about the way Rachel played today," the coach said.  "She really contributed in Ye's absence and took a big step forward in her development as a player."

Daemen closes out the two-day tournament on Saturday with two more matches.  They'll face Trinity International (IL) at 11am before facing Walsh (OH) at 1pm as they look for redemption from a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Cavaliers last weekend in Livonia, MI.