THE MATCHUP: Edinboro University hosts Daemen College in non-conference women's volleyball action...game time is 7 p.m.

THE COACHES: Mark Parisi is in his ninth year as head women's volleyball coach at Daemen and owns a 134-149 (.473) career record...success has been the norm in recent years, as the Wildcats have averaged 21 wins a year over the past four seasons under Parisi's guidance...the program is coming off back-to-back seasons of 25-plus victories and last year posted a 27-10 record en route to a United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championship...Missy Soboleski is in her ninth season as head volleyball coach at Edinboro...a 1993 graduate of Gannon, she previously served as head coach at Gannon (1995-98) and Mercyhurst (1999-204) and entered the 2013 season with a career coaching record of 319-281 (.541)...she has led Edinboro to six (2005,  07, 08, 09, 10, 11) NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.

NCAA DIVISION II: Daemen is in Candidacy Year Two of the NCAA Division II membership process...Daemen has been accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) and will play full regular-season conference schedules beginning this fall...the College will also maintain its affiliation with the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) for postseason opportunities, as it will not be eligible for the ECC or NCAA postseason during Candidacy Year Two.

THE HISTORY: Daemen and Edinboro have met in each of the previous six seasons...the Fighting Scots had prevailed in five-straight meetings before the Wildcats posted a 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-12) win at Lumsden Gymnasium last year...Joanna Fretthold led the way for Daemen with nine kills and a team-high 15 digs, while Jenn Karan recorded a team-high 10 kills...Kaley Vazquez handed out 17 assists...Tabitha Meeks had six kills and 10 digs for Edinboro...the Fighting Scots posted a 3-1 victory over Daemen the last time the teams met at Edinboro during the 2011 season...Seth Sullivan had a match-high 13 kills for the hosts...Karan (11 kills, 8 digs) and Fretthold (9 kills, 12 digs) paced Daemen.

THE WILDCATS: Daemen returns nine players from last year's team that posted a 27-10 record and claimed the USCAA championship...Daemen was voted fifth in the East Coast Conference preseason poll...the Wildcats are ranked fourth in the USCAA poll released Oct. 11...juniors Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen), Lindsey Nowak (West Seneca, N.Y./Immaculata) and Chelsea Turcer (Alexander, N.Y./Alexander Central) and seniors Kaley Vazquez (Kenmore, N.Y./Kenmore West) and Paige Tilert (Derby, N.Y./Genesee CC) top the list of returning players...Wang, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker, earned second team USCAA All-America honors last fall after posting 265 kills, a .362 hitting percentage and 119 blocks...Nowak, an outside hitter, ranked third on the team in kills (284) and fourth in blocks (51) last year...Turcer ranked second on the team in assists (538)...Vazquez totaled a team-high 761 assists last year and entered the 2013 season with 2,107 helpers...Tilert, a defensive specialist, recorded 401 digs (third on the team) a year ago...the Wildcats won six of their first nine matches, but have gone 2-5 over their last seven...Daemen is coming off a 3-1 loss at Mercy College this past Friday...additional league losses have come against LIU Post (3-1), NYIT (3-1), Dowling (3-2) and Bridgeport (3-2), while ECC wins have come over Roberts Wesleyan (3-0) and Dowling (3-1)...Wang was named ECC Player of the Week earlier this year and has recorded 10 or more kills in 14 of Daemen's 16 matches...she had a season-high 18 kills in a 3-1 win over Bloomfield and leads the team in kills (196), hitting percentage (.314) and blocks (63)...additional production has come from Vazquez (301 asts, 107 digs, 21 aces), Nowak (145 kills, 15 aces, 28 blks), Turcer (223 asts, 16 aces, 92 digs) and Tilert (273 digs)...senior Brittany Anthon (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) has totaled 50 kills and 69 digs over the past five matches and has registered double-digit digs in five-straight matches...she had a season-high 13 kills and added 12 digs in the 3-2 loss to Bridgeport and ranks third in kills (114) and second in digs (167) overall.

THE FIGHTING SCOTS: Edinboro was picked fifth in the PSAC West preseason poll...the Fighting Scots return nine players from last season's squad that finished 11-22 overall (7-12 PSAC)...Edinboro won 12 of its first 17 matches, but has lost its last four matches...the four game slide started with a 3-1 loss to Mercyhurst and was followed by setbacks to Slippery Rock (3-1), Cal. Pa. (3-1) and Seton Hill (3-2)...the Fighting Scots prevailed in five of their first six matches, and also posted a recent five-match winning streak that included wins over West Chester (3-1), Cheyney (3-0), Kutztown (3-2), East Stroudsburg (3-0) and Gannon (3-2)...sophomore Megan Branchick had 20 kills in the 3-2 win over Gannon and has totaled a team-high 204 kills...sophomore Marah Maycock had 15 kills and 13 digs in the loss to Seton Hill last weekend and has totaled 188 kills, 234 digs and 26 aces...additional production has come from juniors Tabitha Meeks (183 kills, 286 digs, 23 aces) and Haley Marett (444 digs, 28 aces) and sophomore Katie Felix (7.67 assists per set, 175 digs).

DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen has won three of their last four matches against opponents from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference... the Wildcats are 15-2 in non-conference matches vs. NCAA Division II East Region opponents since the start of the 2012 season...Ye Wang ranks third among the ECC leaders in both kills per set (3.36) and blocks per set (1.09)...Paige Tilert ranks third among the ECC leaders in digs per set (4.59)

ROAD WARRIORS: Daemen has played 94 matches since the start of the 2011 season and 78 of the 94 matches have been played away from the friendly confines of Lumsden Gym...the Wildcats are 50-28 (.641) on the road since the start of the 2011 season and 11-5 in home matches during that time.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats return to action Saturday, Oct. 19 when they begin a season-long six-match homestand by hosting Queens College in an ECC match at 2 p.m.

FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College athletics on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.