THE MATCHUP: The Daemen College women's volleyball team plays its first home match of the 2013 season when it hosts Le Moyne College in a non-league tilt...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 131-144 (.476) 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...Lizzie Cheek is in her first season as head women's volleyball coach at Le Moyne...a 2010 graduate of Le Moyne, she was four-time all-conference performer for the Dolphins and holds the program record for career kills (1,284).
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 SERIES: Wednesday's match will mark the second-straight year and the 10th time overall the Wildcats and Dolphins have met...Daemen owns a 6-3 advantage in the all-time series...the Wildcats have prevailed in the last three, and six of the last seven, meetings...the teams met for the first time since 2007 last fall in Syracuse, N.Y. and the Wildcats posted a 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 17-25, 15-9) victory...
Joanna Fretthold (16 kills, 13 digs) and
Kaley Vazquez (32 asts) led a balanced Daemen attack...
Ye Wang (11 kills, 4 blks),
Lindsey Nowak (11 kills) and
Paige Tilert (16 digs) also contributed...Morgan McDermott (14 kills), Bethany Fabian (19 digs) and Megan Maisonet (46 asts) paced the Dolphins...Le Moyne's last win over Daemen came during the 2005 season.
THE WILDCATS: Daemen returns nine players from last year's team that posted a 27-10 record and claimed the USCAA championship...Daemen is ranked fifth in the East Coast Conference preseason poll...the Wildcats are ranked 13th in the first USCAA poll released Sept. 20...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 opened the 2013 season at the Courtyard by Marriott Invitational hosted by Lynn University...Daemen suffered losses to Saint Leo (3-1) and UPR-Mayaguez (3-1), before posting a 3-0 victory over Fort Valley State...the Wildcats suffered a 3-0 loss to Lynn in their tournament finale...the Wildcats bounced back with an impressive showing at the Yellow Jacket Invitational hosted by American International College this past weekend...Daemen swept through the weekend with wins over Bloomfield (3-1), AIC (3-0), East Stroudsburg (3-0) and Pace (3-0)...Wang was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after she posted 53 kills, 18 blocks and a .430 hitting percentage over the four matches...she was also named to the all-tournament team following the Courtyard by Marriott Invitational...for the season she leads the team in kills (101), hitting percentage (.384) and blocks (26)...additional production has come from Vazquez (139 asts, 46 digs, 13 aces), Nowak (69 kills, 11 aces, 26 digs, 10 blks), Turcer (100 asts, 12 aces, 41 digs) and Tilert (133 digs).
THE DOLPHINS: Le Moyne is a member of the NCAA Division II Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10)...the Dolphins were picked 10th in the NE-10 preseason poll...the Dolphins return eight players from last season's squad that finished 16-11...senior Madison Snow (166 kills, 155 digs) and juniors Megan Maisonet (968 asts, 276 digs, 33 aces) and Kristen Willets (176 kills, 88 blks) top the list of returning players...Le Moyne won four-straight matches during the season-opening East Stroudsburg Invitational, but has lost five of its last seven matches...the Dolphins dropped three of four matches at the Wilmington (Del.) Invitational last weekend...Le Moyne lost to Holy Family (3-1), New York Tech (3-0) and Wilmington (3-0) and posted a 3-1 victory over Millersville...freshman Andrea Buchanan totaled 15 kills and 15 digs in a 3-2 win over Bloomfield and currently leads the team in kills (114) and digs (131)...Maisonet handed out 43 assists in the win over Bloomfield and has totaled 361 assists thus far...additional production has come from Willets (66 kills, 26 blks), Snow (92 kills, 83 digs) and freshman Annie Stoklosa (126 digs).
HONOR ROLL: Ye Wang was named ECC Player of the Week and USCAA Player of the Week following her performance at the American International Yellow Jacket Invitational last weekend...she amassed double-digit kills in every match, leading Daemen to four straight wins...for the tournament, she totaled 53 kills and also posted a .430 hitting percentage with 18 blocks...she was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player for her efforts.
DID YOU KNOW?: The Wildcats went 11-2 against NCAA Division II opponents last fall in what was the College's first year of NCAA Division II candidacy...Daemen is 16-5 against NCAA Division II opponents since the start of the 2012 season...Daemen has prevailed in its last seven matches against Northeast-10 Conference opponents, including a 5-0 mark since the start of the 2012 season.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats open up ECC play this weekend when they travel to Long Island, N.Y. for matches against LIU Post (Sept. 27 @ 7 p.m.) , New York Tech (Sept. 28 @ noon) and Dowling (Sept. 29 @ noon)...Daemen's next home game is set for Friday, Oct. 4 when it hosts Dowling in an ECC match...game time is 7 p.m. at Lumsden Gymnasium.
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.
