THE DETAILS: The Daemen College women's volleyball team looks to defend its 2012 United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Tournament championship this weekend in Canton, N.Y…SUNY Canton is serving as the tournament host…opening round (pool play) games take place Thursday (Oct. 31) and Friday (Nov. 1) and the quarterfinals are also set for Friday (Nov. 1)…the semifinals and national championship game will take place Saturday (Nov. 2)…to view the full tournament bracket click HERE…the full tournament website can be accessed HERE...the USCAA is again partnering with Tourbeau Sports to provide live streaming broadcasts of select tournament games.

TITLE DEFENSE: Daemen made its first-ever appearance in the USCAA Tournament last fall…the Wildcats cruised through pool play with wins over SUNY Canton (2-0), Penn College of Technology (2-0), Carlow (2-0) and Cincinnati-Clermont (2-0) and advanced to the final four following a 3-0 win over Johnson & Wales…Daemen remained perfect following a 3-0 win over Rochester in the semifinals and defeated three-time defending champion Florida College (3-1) in the championship game.

TOURNAMENT FIELD: Daemen (13-9) is seeded third in the 10-team field and will open pool play on Thursday against No. 9 Penn State Fayette (23-9) and No. 7 Carlow University (18-17)…Daemen continues pool play action Friday against No. 5 Cincinnati Clermont (21-4) and top-seeded Marygrove (17-13)…the remainder of the field includes No. 2 Florida College (26-10), No. 4 SUNY Canton (27-5), No. 6 Rochester (21-21), No. 8 Johnson & Wales (24-9) and No. 10 Lindenwood-Belleville (14-15)…Florida has claimed the USCAA national championship eight times.

THE COACH: Mark Parisi is in his ninth year as head women's volleyball coach at Daemen and owns a 139-150 (.481) 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.

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: With the exception of Carlow University, Daemen has a limited history with the tournament field…the Wildcats faced SUNY Canton, Cincinnati-Clermont, Johnson & Wales, Rochester and Florida College for the first time ever during last year's USCAA Tournament…Daemen has never faced Penn State Fayette, Marygrove or Lindenwood-Belleville…Daemen and Carlow are both former members of the now defunct American Mideast Conference (AMC)…the Wildcats and the Celtics have met 13 times over the past eight seasons…Daemen has prevailed in the last 12 meetings and owns a 12-1 advantage in the past 13 meetings.

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 were ranked fourth in the USCAA poll released Oct. 18...Daemen enters the USCAA Tournament riding a five-match winning streak…the Wildcats started the streak with wins over Queens (3-1) and Molloy two weeks ago and then posted impressive upsets over ECC front-runners LIU Post (3-1) and New York Tech (3-0) last weekend…Daemen ran the streak to five matches following a 3-2 win over rival Roberts Wesleyan this past Tuesday…junior Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen), was named to the All-Tournament team following last year's USCAA Tournament and also earned second team USCAA All-America honors…she has been named ECC Player of the Week twice this season and has recorded 10 or more kills in 19 of Daemen's 22 matches...she had a career-high 20 kills in the 3-1 win over Queens and leads the team in kills (289), hitting percentage (.318) and blocks (78)…junior Lindsey Nowak (West Seneca, N.Y./Immaculata) had a season-high 16 kills in the win over Queens and has totaled 213 kills and 38 blocks…senior Brittany Anthon (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) totaled 11 kills and a season-high 20 digs in the win over RWC Tuesday and ranks third in kills (165) and second in digs (228)…senior Kaley Vazquez (Kenmore, N.Y./Kenmore West) and junior Chelsea Turcer (Alexander, N.Y./Alexander Central) have managed the offense…Vazquez totaled 24 assists and 13 digs in the win over Queens and has totaled a team-high 441 assists to go along with 28 aces and 160 digs…Turcer had a season-high 26 assists in the win over RWC Tuesday and has totaled 334 assists…seniors Paige Tilert (Derby, N.Y./Genesee CC) and Kaitlin Watchey (Jamestown, N.Y./Jamestown) and freshman Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) have also produced…Tilert has recorded double-digit digs in 18-straight matches and had a season-high 30 digs in an early-season win over Bloomfield…she leads the team in digs (363) and ranks third in service aces (22)…Watchey is the reining ECC Player of the Week and has totaled 138 kills and 38 blocks…Drzymala has played in 17 of the 22 matches and has totaled 86 kills, 176 digs and 20 service aces…she established season-highs for kills (10) and aces (5) and also recorded 18 digs in the win over RWC Tuesday.

DID YOU KNOW?: Ye Wang ranks fifth among the USCAA leaders in kills per set (3.52) and ninth in both hitting percentage (.318) and blocks per set (0.95)…Paige Tilert ranks 10th among the USCAA leaders in digs per set (4.43)...Tillert recorded her 700th career dig during the win over Queens...Brittany Anthon recorded her 700th career dig during a recent loss to Edinboro...Chelsea Turcer recorded her 1,000th career assist during the win over LIU Post last weekend..Kaley Vazquez recorded her 2,500th career assist during the win over LIU Post...Ye Wang recorded her 300th career block recently and recorded her 800th career kill during the 3-0 win over Molloy.

ROAD WARRIORS: Daemen has played 100 matches since the start of the 2011 season and 79 of the 100 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 16-5 in home matches during that time.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats will close out the 2013 season with four ECC matches after the USCAA Tournament…Daemen will host Mercy on Nov. 10, before capping the season with road games at Molloy (Nov. 15), Queens (Nov. 16) and Bridgeport (Nov. 17).

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.