ROCHESTER, NY - Daemen took a split of their two matches today at the Roberts Wesleyan/Houghton Crossover Tournament as they defeated Trinity International (IL) 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-14) before suffering their second straight set loss to Walsh (OH) this season (22-25, 23-25, 20-25).  Today's results bring Daemen's overall record to 16-6 as they await their American Mideast Conference opener this Tuesday at home vs. Houghton.

Sophomore Jenn Karan (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park HS) and junior Joanna Fretthold (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda HS) led a balanced Daemen attack in the win vs. TIU.  Karan led the way with nine kills while Fretthold managed seven.  

Setter Kaley Vazquez (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore West HS) tallied a team-best 16 assists in the win.

"We played solid all the way around," said Daemen head coach Mark Parisi, pointing out that the squad had only one service error in 46 total attempts.

In the loss to Walsh, Karan came up with nine more kills while freshman Lindsey Nowak (West Seneca, NY/Immaculata Acad.) matched a career-best with 13.  

Two crucial serve errors, one each in the two opening sets, really cost the Wildcats and put them into tough situations late in the sets against a quality Walsh attack.

Fretthold and fellow junior Katie Auge (Salamanca, NY/Salamanca HS) backstopped the Daemen defense as they combined for 32 digs in what Parisi considered the team's finest defensive showing of the weekend.

"I was happy with the fight we showed throughout the match," Parisi said.  "We have some areas that need some focus to improve and I'm confident the team is committed to getting it taken care of as we move into our conference schedule."