THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's volleyball team travels to Connecticut and Long Island this weekend for East Coast Conference matches against the University of Bridgeport (Oct. 17) and Dowling College (Oct. 18).
Friday, Oct. 17
Daemen at Bridgeport - 7 p.m.
Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium, Bridgeport, Conn.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
Saturday, Oct. 18
Daemen at Dowling - 11 a.m.
Dowling Gymnasium, Oakdale, 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 150-172 (.465) 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...Kevin DesLauriers is in his second season as head women's volleyball coach at Dowling...he previously served as an assistant coach at Stony Brook and as head coach at LIU-Southampton…Gary Mullin is in his first season as head women's volleyball coach at Bridgeport after spending the previous five years as assistant volleyball coach at Trinity College…he inherits a program that has made six consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
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: The Wildcats have a very limited history with their two opponents this weekend...Daemen will be meeting both Dowling and Bridgeport for just the fourth time ever...Bridgeport has prevailed in the previous three meetings…the Purple Knights gutted out a 3-0 victory (25-22, 28-26, 25-17) over the Wuildcats at Daemen last month…Biljana Savic led a balanced UB attack with eight kills, 21 assists and four digs…Amber Drzymala paced the Wildcats with 10 kills and 13 digs…UB posted two wins over Daemen last fall, a 3-2 decision at Lumsden Gym and a 3-1 victory at Bridgeport…Dowling has prevailed in two of its previous three meetings with Daemen…the Golden Lions posted a 3-0 victory (25-19, 25-19, 25-21) last month at Lumsden Gym…Jessica Kalbfleisch led the way with 16 kills and 12 digs, while Elizabeth Gorman added 32 assists and 14 digs…Lindsey Nowak had 18 kills for Daemen, while Katie McKrell handed out 27 assists…the Wildcats split their two meetings with Dowling last year…Daemen posted a 3-1 victory at Dowling in what marked Daemen's first-ever ECC victory…the Golden Lions answered with a 3-2 win at Lumsden Gym.
THE WILDCATS (1-21; 1-8 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 suffered losses to Edinboro (3-1), New York Tech (3-0) and LIU Post (3-0) last week…the Wildcats are coming off a 3-0 loss to Roberts Wesleyan Wednesday night at Lumsden Gym…Nowak has recorded double-digit kills in 14 of 22 matches and had a career-high 21 kills in a recent 3-2 loss to Kutztown…she leads the team in kills (237) and blocks (27) and ranks fifth in digs (73)…Drzymala had a career-high 22 kills and a season-high 21 digs in the 3-2 loss to Kutztown…she leads the team in digs (209) and service aces (30) and ranks second in kills (198)…McKrell had 63 assists in the five-set loss to Kutztown and has totaled a team-high 422 assists…she also ranks fourth in digs (80)…additional production has come from Turcer (187 digs), sophomore Ryanne Dugan (116 assists), Reeser (131 kills, 21 blocks) and Steck (66 kills)…Reeser equaled her season-high for kills (14) in the loss to Edinboro last week.
THE PURPLE KNIGHTS (14-2; 9-0 ECC): Bridgeport is the defending ECC regular-season and tournament champion and was picked second in the ECC preseason poll...the Purple Knights return four all-conference players from last year's team that posted a 22-3 record (15-1 ECC) and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament...the Purple Knights have been one of the premiere programs in the region in recent years, advancing to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past six seasons...seniors Biljana Savic, Larissa Oliveira and Ying Shen and junior Sarah Rosa all return after earning All-ECC honors last year…Savic, who totaled 218 kills, 578 assists and 295 digs and was named ECC Player of the Year last year, was selected ECC pre-season Player of the Year this fall…UB sits atop the ECC standings and has lost just two sets en route a perfect 9-0 league record…the Purple Knights had a nine-match winning streak snapped following a 3-1 loss to Stonehill earlier this month…UB rebounded with a 3-0 win over Queens last week and a 3-1 win over Dowling this past Tuesday…Savic is a two-time ECC Player of the Week selection and had 12 kills and 27 assists in the win over Dowling…she ranks second on the team in both kills (133) and assists (255) and third in digs (115)…Rosa is a one-time ECC Player of the Week selection and has totaled a team-high 163 kills…newcomer Giovana Soares has totaled a team-high 295 assists…additional production has come from Shen (119 kills, 139 digs), Oliveira (119 kills, 39 blocks) and senior Michele Santos (215 digs).
THE GOLDEN LIONS (12-8; 6-3 ECC): Dowling was picked fifth in the ECC preseason poll...the Golden Lions posted a 19-13 overall record (10-6 ECC) and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament last year...Dowling has appeared in the last 12 NCAA Tournaments and placed third overall in 2010…the Golden Lions are currently tied for second place in the ECC standings with Roberts Wesleyan…Dowling has won five of its last seven matches and had a four-match winning streak snapped following a 3-1 loss at Bridgeport this past Tuesday…the winning streak included triumphs over Mercy (3-0), New York Tech (3-0), Molloy (3-0) and American International (3-0)…junior Jessica Kalbfleisch collected second team All-ECC honors last fall after posting a team-high 386 kills…Kalbfleisch had 16 kills and 15 digs in the recent win over NYIT and has totaled a team-high 232 kills…she also ranks second on the team in digs (239)…additional production has come from senior Cassy Kelly (182 kills, 194 digs), junior Kayla Dillman (500 assists), junior Kayla Morgan (340 digs, 32 aces) and sophomore Katarzyna Klocek (166 kills, 51 blks).
DID YOU KNOW?: Senior Lindsey Nowak recorded her 1,000th career kill earlier this month and enters the weekend with 1,047 kills in 130 career matches…Nowak ranks third among the ECC leaders in total kills (237) and fifth in kills per set (3.20)…senior Chelsea Turcer recorded her 500th career dig recently and enters the weekend with 585 digs in 128 career matches…sophomore Amber Drzymala stands just 28 digs shy of 500 for her career…Drzymala ranks fourth among the ECC leaders in service aces (30) and 10th in both kills (198) and digs (209)…Katie McKrell ranks seventh among the league leaders in both total assists (422) and assists per set (6.03).
ROAD WARRIORS: Daemen has played 133 matches since the start of the 2011 season and 104 of the 133 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 are idle until next weekend (Oct. 25) when they travel to Mercy College for an East Coast Conference match…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.
