THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's volleyball team plays host to long-time rival Roberts Wesleyan College in an East Coast Conference match Wednesday…the action gets underway at 7 p.m. at Lumsden Gymnasium.
Wednesday, Oct. 15
Roberts Wesleyan at Daemen - 7 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
THE COACHES: Mark Parisi is in his 10th year as head women's volleyball coach at Daemen…he recorded his 150th career victory following a 3-0 victory over Mercy College on Sept. 28 and owns a 150-171 (.467) career record. Success has been the norm in recent years, as the Wildcats have posted at least 23 wins in each of the last three seasons and have claimed back-to-back (2012, 2013) United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championships...Jon and Kirsten Meyers are in their seventh year as head women's volleyball coaches at Roberts Wesleyan and entered the 2014 season with a 106-99 (.517) career record...they were named 2012 ECC Coaches of the Year after leading the Redhawks to a 20-12 overall record and a third-place showing (11-4) in the ECC.
MOVE TO II: Daemen is in Candidacy Year Three of the NCAA Division II membership process. Daemen has been accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) and began playing full regular-season conference schedules last 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 Three.
THE HISTORY: Daemen and RWC are former American Mideast Conference rivals...Daemen has dominated the series in recent years, prevailing in 10 of the last 14 meetings (and the last three played at Lumsden Gym)…the Redhawks posted a 3-0 win (26-24, 25-11, 25-19) over the Wildcats earlier this year at RWC…Kendall Havener led the way with 12 kills, 12 digs and four blocks, while Maggie Concannon handed out 34 assists…Lindsey Nowak (10 kills) and Amber Drzymala (9 kills, 7 digs) paced the Wildcats…Daemen posted two wins over the Redhawks last year, a 3-0 (25-23, 27-25, 23-21) victory at RWC and a 3-2 (24-26, 25-19, 25-20, 24-26, 15-8) win at Lumsden Gym.
THE WILDCATS (1-20; 1-7 ECC): Daemen returns 10 players from last year's team that posted a 23-10 record and claimed its second-straight USCAA championship...Daemen went 10-6 in the competitive East Coast Conference last fall and was voted third in the ECC preseason poll this year…graduation took its toll with the loss of the team's top setter and defensive specialist, and Parisi must also overcome the loss of middle blocker Ye Wang who has decided to red-shirt the 2014 season…a two-time USCAA All-America selection, Wang also earned first-team All-ECC honors last fall after leading the team in kills (397) and blocks (97)…seniors Lindsey Nowak and Chelsea Turcer and sophomore Amber Drzymala top the list of returning players…Nowak was a first-team USCAA All-America selection last fall after ranking second on the team in kills (296) and third in blocks (38)…Turcer ranked second on the team in assists (487), third in service aces (38) and fifth in digs (164)…Drzymala played in 28 of 33 matches as a freshman and totaled 263 digs, 144 kills and 32 service aces…newcomers Katie McKrell, Jenna Reeser and Jakki Steck have all made an immediate impact…the Wildcats opened ECC play with losses to Roberts Wesleyan (3-0), Dowling (3-0) and Bridgeport (3-0), before posting a 3-0 league win over Mercy on Sept. 28…the Wildcats suffered ECC losses to Queens (3-1) and Molloy (3-0) two weeks ago and are coming off losses to Edinboro (3-1), New York Tech (3-0) and LIU Post (3-0) last week…Nowak has recorded double-digit kills in 13 of 21 matches and had a career-high 21 kills in a recent 3-2 loss to Kutztown…she leads the team in kills (227) and blocks (26) and ranks fifth in digs (72)…Drzymala had a career-high 22 kills and a season-high 21 digs in a 3-2 loss to Kutztown…she leads the team in digs (203) and service aces (28) and ranks second in kills (187)…McKrell had 63 assists in the five-set loss to Kutztown and has totaled a team-high 401 assists…she also ranks third in digs (77)…additional production has come from Turcer (178 digs), sophomore Ryanne Dugan (111 assists), Reeser (128 kills, 21 blocks) and Steck (64 kills)…Reeser equaled her season-high for kills (14) in the loss to Edinboro last week.
THE REDHAWKS (9-6, 5-3 ECC): Roberts Wesleyan was picked sixth in the ECC preseason poll...the Redhawks return nine players from last year's team that posted a 12-18 record (5-11 ECC)…seniors Jordan Wilson and Kendall Havener and juniors Maggie Concannon and Olivia Zureck top the list of returning players…Wilson and Havener both collected All-ECC honors two years ago, while Concannon was tabbed ECC Rookie of the Year in 2012...Wilson totaled 288 kills and 59 blocks last year, while Havener added 284 kills and a team-high 94 blocks...Concannon has dished out over 1,000 assists in each of her first two seasons and last year totaled 1,067 assists…RWC had a four-match winning streak snapped following a 3-0 loss to LIU Post this past Saturday…the four-game winning streak included wins over Mercy (3-1), Queens (3-0), Molloy (3-1) and New York Tech (3-1)…freshman Courtney Taylor had 14 kills in a recent 3-1 loss to Dowling and has totaled a team-high 170 kills…additional production has come from Havener (159 kills, 28 aces, 41 blocks), Wilson (163 kills, 39 blocks), Concannon (515 assists) and Zureck (204 digs).
DID YOU KNOW?: Senior Lindsey Nowak recorded her 1,000th career kill earlier this month and enters Wednesday's match with 1,037 kills in 129 career matches…Nowak ranks third among the ECC leaders in total kills (227) and fourth in kills per set (3.20)…senior Chelsea Turcer recorded her 500th career dig recently and enters Wednesday's match with 576 digs in 127 career matches…sophomore Amber Drzymala enters Wednesday's action just 34 digs shy of 500 for her career…Drzymala ranks third among the ECC leaders in service aces (28).
HOME SWEET HOME: Daemen is 18-10 at Lumsden Gym since the start of the 2011 season.
ROAD WARRIORS: Daemen has played 132 matches since the start of the 2011 season and 104 of the 132 matches have been played away from the friendly confines of Lumsden Gym. The Wildcats are 59-45 (.567) on the road since the start of the 2011 season.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats travel to Connecticut and Long Island this weekend to take on the University of Bridgeport (Oct. 17) and Dowling College (Oct. 18) in East Coast Conference action…five of Daemen's final seven matches will be played on the road…Click HERE to view Daemen's complete schedule.
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.
