Friday, Oct. 25
Daemen vs. Long Island University Post
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.

Saturday, Oct. 26
Daemen vs. New York Institute of Technology
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.


THE MATCHUPS: Daemen College plays host to regional powers LIU Post and New York Tech in ECC volleyball action this weekend...both teams advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament last year...action gets underway Friday night when the Wildcats host LIU Post at 7 p.m...Daemen will then host New York Tech Saturday at 11 a.m.

PURPLE POWER: Saturday's game against New York Tech will be part of the East Coast Conference's "Fight Like A Volleyballer Lavender Week"...each team will host a "Lavender Game" in support of cancer research...a modest charge of $2 will be collected at the entrance to Lumsden Gymnasium from all spectators who attend the match...all proceeds generated from the admission charge will be donated to the Dana Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Institute...lavender t-shirts will also be available for purchase at the match for $10...if you wish to make an additional monetary donation to the Dana Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Institute, you may do so at the match that day.

THE COACHES: Mark Parisi is in his ninth year as head women's volleyball coach at Daemen and owns a 136-150 (.475) 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...Shellane Ogoshi is in her sixth season as head women's volleyball coach at LIU Post and entered the 2013 season with a 74-57 (.565) career record...a standout setter for Hofstra, she was named Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year in 2005 and was a three-time All-CAA selection...Gail Wasmus is in her 28th season as head volleyball coach at NYIT...she entered the 2013 season with a career record of 503-363 (.581) and ranked 13th in career wins among active NCAA Division II coaches...the 2010 ECC Coach of the Year, she has guided the Bears to the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons (8 total 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: The Wildcats have a very limited history with their two opponents this weekend...Daemen and LIU Post met for the first time ever last month on Long Island...the Pioneers posted a 3-1 victory (23-25, 25-15, 25-9, 25-17)...Shelby McCool led a balanced attack with 12 kills, while Lulu Centro handed out 34 assists...Ye Wang had a team-high 13 kills for Daemen, while Brittany Anthon and Paige Tilert both recorded 17 digs...it will mark just the third all-time meeting between Daemen and New York Tech...the Wildcats defeated NYIT last year during a tri-match at Roberts Wesleyan...Daemen dropped the first set 27-25, before winning the next three (25-22, 25-21, 25-14) to secure the win...Lindsey Nowak led the way for Daemen with 16 kills...Shelby Cable had a match-high 23 kills for NYIT...the Bears posted a 3-0 victory  (25-18, 25-12, 25-16) over Daemen last month on long Island...Shelby Cable totaled 17 kills and 11 digs to lead the way, while Marija Jovanivic registered 39 assists...Ye Wang (7 asts) and Paige Tilert (15 digs) paced the Wildcats.

THE WILDCATS (10-9, 4-5 ECC): 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. 18...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 this fall, but have gone 4-6 over their last 10...Daemen snapped a four-match losing streak (the first time it has dropped four-straight since August of 2010) with wins over Queens (3-1) and Molloy (3-0) this past weekend...league losses have come against LIU Post (3-1), NYIT (3-1), Dowling (3-2), Bridgeport (3-2) and Mercy (3-1), while ECC wins have come over Roberts Wesleyan (3-0), Dowling (3-1), Queens (3-1) and Molloy (3-0)...Wang is a two-time ECC Player of the Week selection and has recorded 10 or more kills in 17 of Daemen's 19 matches...she had a career-high 20 kills in the 3-1 win over Queens and leads the team in kills (247), hitting percentage (.325) and blocks (73)...additional production has come from Vazquez (379 asts, 135 digs, 24 aces), Nowak (177 kills, 15 aces, 34 blks), Turcer (273 asts, 21 aces, 114 digs) and Tilert (315 digs)...senior Brittany Anthon (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) has registered double-digit digs in six of the last seven matches...she had a season-high 13 kills and added 12 digs in the 3-2 loss to Bridgeport and ranks third in kills (139) and second in digs (192) overall.

THE PIONEERS (17-5, 6-2 ECC): LIU Post was picked fourth in the ECC preseason poll...the Pioneers return eight players from last year's team that posted a 23-15 record (11-5 ECC) and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament...senior Makamae Namahowe collected second-team All-ECC honors last year after leading the team in kills (381) and ranking second in digs (553)...the Pioneers are 9-2 over their last 11 matches and are coming off non-league wins over Stonehill (3-1) and Pace (3-2)...LIU Post has recorded league wins over Roberts Wesleyan (3-0), Daemen (3-1), New York Tech (3-0), Mercy (3-1), Queens (3-1) and Molloy (3-1)...league losses have come against Dowling (3-0) and Bridgeport (3-2)...freshman Shelby McCool has collected both ECC Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week honors this year...she totaled a season-high 19 kills in the win over Queens and has posted a team-high 228 kills with 204 digs...Namahoe had 17 kills and 11 digs in the win over Molloy and has totaled 193 kills and 312 digs...junior setter Lulu Centro recorded her third match with at least 50 assists during the win over Pace (52) Tuesday and ranks second in the league in assists per set (10.14)...sophomore Rachel Ringor registered her 400th dig of the season during the win over Pace and has totaled a conference-high 409 digs...Ringor also ranks third among the ECC leaders in service aces (35).

THE BEARS (19-2, 7-1 ECC): New York Tech was picked second in the ECC preseason poll...the Bears return 10 players and four All-ECC performers from last season's squad that finished 22-10 overall (12-4 ECC) and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament...seniors Shelby Cable, Savannah Donarski, Marija Javanovic and Katarina Sretnovic all earned all-conference honors last fall...Cable also earned AVCA honorable mention All-America honors after leading the team in kills (433) and ranking second in digs (299)...NYIT opened the year with 12-straight wins before suffering a 3-0 loss to LIU Post...the Bears rebounded with six-straight wins and have won seven of their last eight matches...NYIT is coming off a 3-1 win over Dowling on Oct. 17...additional league wins have come over Roberts Wesleyan (3-0), Daemen (3-0), Molloy (3-0), Mercy (3-0), Queens (3-1) and Bridgeport (3-2)...Cable has recorded double-digit kills and digs in 13 of NYIT's 21 matches and has totaled a team-high 259 kills and 248 digs...Donarski had 15 kills in the win over Dowling last week and has totaled 238 kills...Jovanovic handed out 51 assists in the win over Bridgeport and is averaging a conference-best 10.47 assists per set...additional production has come from Sretnovic (216 kills, .336 hitting %, 54 blks), junior transfer Taylor Pulley (team-high 267 digs) and senior Kelly Brown (ECC-best 103 blocks).

HONOR ROLL: Ye Wang was named ECC Player of the Week for the second time this season after leading the Wildcats to a 2-1 record last week...she hit .373, totaled 51 kills (4.25 per set) and also registered 10 total blocks over the three matches...she had a a career-high 20 kills in a 3-1 win over Queens and posted 17 kills and a .615 hitting percentage in a 3-0 win over Molloy.

DID YOU KNOW?: Ye Wang ranks second among the ECC leaders in kills per set (3.51) and  third in blocks per set (1.04)...Paige Tilert ranks third among the ECC leaders in digs per set (4.40)...Brittany Anthon ranks sixth among the league leaders in service aces (27)...Tillert recorded her 700th career dig during the win over Queens this past Saturday...Brittany Anthon recorded her 700th career dig last week during a loss to Edinboro...Chelsea Turcer stands five assists shy of 1,000 for her career...Kaley Vazquez is 14 assists shy of 2,500 career assists...Ye Wang recorded her 300th career block recently and recorded her 800th career kill during the 3-0 win over Molloy this past Sunday.

USCAA BID: Earlier this week, Daemen was selected as the No. 3 overall seed for the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Championships to be held Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 on the campus of SUNY Canton in Canton, N.Y...the Wildcats are situated in Pool A and will begin their quest to repeat as USCAA national champions with four pool play matches over two days...the Championships shift to a single elimination tourrnament beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1 with the top four finishers from each pool advancing to the quarterfinal round...the semifinals are set for 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2 with the championship match to follow at 4 p.m.

ROAD WARRIORS: Daemen has played 97 matches since the start of the 2011 season and 79 of the 97 matches have been played away from the friendly confines of Lumsden Gym...the Wildcats are 50-29 (.633) on the road since the start of the 2011 season and 13-5 in home matches during that time.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats return to action Tuesday (Oct. 29) when they host rival Roberts Wesleyan College in an ECC match...game time is 7 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.