Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 DEARBORN, MI - The Daemen Wildcats took a split to open their season today at the University of Michigan-Dearborn Early Bird Challenge, besting the Spring Arbor Cougars in straight sets (25-11, 25-17, 25-17) before falling to NAIA #16 Madonna, also in straight sets (18-25, 21-25, 17-25).

Senior outside hitter Joanna Fretthold (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda HS) powered down a team-best 14 kills in the win over Spring Arbor.  She was followed by sophomore middle blocker Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen HS) who converted her 20 attack attempts into 10 kills.

Junior setter Kaley Vazquez (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore West HS) assisted on 22 kills while sophomore Chelsea Turcer (Alexander, NY/Alexander Central HS) added 14 assists as well.  The two setters paved the way with solid passing for the Wildcats to hit .363 as a team in the match.

"We came out with a lot of energy against Spring Arbor," said Daemen head coach Mark Parisi.  "We were very effective offensively as a result of outstanding ball control."

Daemen's solid hitting did not continue however as they committed 25 errors and hit only .095 as a team in the loss to Madonna.  The Crusaders, by contrast, committed just nine errors in the match and cruised to the victory..

Emilie Freeman paced the Crusaders with 10 kills in 11 attempts for a .909 hitting percentage.

Sophomore right side player Lindsey Nowak (Hamburg, NY/Immaculata Acad.) led Daemen with 15 kills and a .538 hitting percentage.  But, she was the lone Wildcat to hit above .061.

Fretthold added nine kills and a team-best 20 digs.

"We stole the momentum in the second half of the first game against Madonna but we couldn't sustain the intensity," Parisi said.  "Madonna is a great team and they showed us what it takes to finish.  I'm sure we'll bounce back tomorrow."

Daemen hits the court again at 8:30 tomorrow morning when they face St. Xavier (IL) before closing out their participation in the Early Bird Challenge vs. Northwestern Ohio at 12:30pm.