SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Daemen College volleyball team evened its record at 3-3 by winning both of their matches on day one of the Yellow Jacket Invitational hosted by American International College at Henry A. Butova Gymnasium tonight. The Wildcats opened the tournament with a four-set win over Bloomfield College, of the Central Atlantic Athletic Conference, before closing the day with a victory over host the host Yellow Jackets in straight sets (25-22, 25-20, 25-17).
 
Strong performances from Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Haichioji Jissen), Kaley Vazquez (Kenmore, N.Y./ Kenmore West) and Paige Tilert (Derby N.Y./Genesee CC) anchored the Wildcats' win in their second match of the day.  Wang's 14 kills, Vazquez's 25 assists and Tilert's 14 digs were all team-highs, and Vazquez' 25 assists were the most she's had in 2013.
 
Daemen also received great support from Lindsay Nowak (West Seneca, N.Y./Immaculata), Chelsea Turcer (Alexander, N.Y./Alexander Central) and Brittany Anthon (Lancaster N.Y./Lancaster). Nowak had 11 kills, Turcer had 11 assists, and Anthon contributed a great all-around performance with eight kills and 10 digs.
 
As a team, Daemen played exceptionally well in the victory. Not only were they buoyed by two players with double-digit assists, but they posted a collective .320 hitting percentage for the match.
 
Hannah Smith and Melanie Garcia were the lone bright spots for American International in their loss. Smith had 27 assists, the highest total for any player on either team in the match, and Garcia posted 10 kills for the Yellow Jackets. However, a low hitting percentage (.170) hamstrung American International in the match.

Stats from the first match vs. Bloomfield were not immediately available after the match.

Daemen will go for a clean sweep of their tournament matches tomorrow (Sept. 22) when they'll face East Stroudsburg University (10 a.m.) and Pace University (12 p.m.).