Box Score

FLUSHING, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's volleyball team dropped its second consecutive four-set match today, falling to host Queens College (25-23, 23-25, 22-25, 20-25) in East Coast Conference action held at Fitzgerald Gymnasium.  With the loss, Daemen falls to 1-16 on the season and 1-4 in the league while Queens jumps back to .500 overall (6-6) with their second ECC win of the season in five tries.

Daemen rallied from a 19-16 deficit in the opening set to come back and win it.  Trailing 21-19, the Wildcats got back-to-back kills from offensive catalysts Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and Lindsey Nowak (West Seneca, N.Y./Immaculata) to knot the score at 21-all.  Later, Daemen took a 23-22 lead following a kill by freshman Jenna Reeser (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home), and closed out the set with a solo block by Reeser.

The Wildcats went on to lead by one two times late in the second set (22-21 and 23-22).  Both leads came after Nowak kills.  But, the Knights rallied with a kill from Tori Bowser followed by superb defensive play at the net from Deja Hooks.  Hooks combined with a Kristen Moore on a block to put the Knights up one (24-23) and then had a solo block of her own to close the set, knotting the match at one set apiece.

Queens took control early of the pivotal third set, building leads of 16-8 and 17-9.  Daemen battled back with a 6-1 run that included service aces by Chelsea Turcer (Alexander, N.Y./Alexander Central) and Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) to draw within three at 18-15.  Queens regrouped with three straight to go back ahead by six (21-15) before Daemen ratlled off four in a row to pull within two (21-19).  A Queens kill by Arielle Dicocco helped the Knights momentarily stem the tide, but a combo block by Reeser and Mackenzie Knihinicki (Lakeview, N.Y./Frontier) made the count 22-20.

Queens then got consecutive kills by Francesca Indoni to put themselves on the brink of a two-sets-to-one lead.  Nowak responded with a kill for the Wildcats and Reeser then combined with classmate Rachel Stephenson (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) on another block to again bring the Wildcats within two (24-22).  But, a Daemen service error on the ensuing point delivered the set, and the match lead, to the Knights.

Daemen used a 6-0 spurt in the fourth to turn a two-point hole (13-11) into a four-point lead (17-13) as they attempted to even up the match.  Stephenson and Nowak combined on two blocks in the run before Queens responded with four straight points of their own to knot the score.  

Kills by the Wildcats' Nowak and McKrell set up a pair of one-point leads (18-17 and 19-18), but Queens was too much down the stretch.  The Knights closed out the match by winining seven of the next eight points, six of which came on clean kills including match-clincher by Bowser.

Bowser and Dicocco split 30 kills to lead Queens while Moore added a match-best 44 assists.  Indoni added 13 kills to the balanced Queens attack.  The Knights also got stellar defensive play from Xhesi Domi who contributed 29 digs. 

Daemen was paced by Nowak's 14 kills, McKrell's 24 assists and Drzymala's 21 digs.  The Wildcats also matched a season-high with 14 block assists, the third time in the last five matches they've reached double figures in that category after failing to do so in the opening 12 matches of the season.  Nowak and Stephenson had four apiece while Knihinicki and Reeser split the other six.

Nowak recorded her 1,000th career kill in the fourth set today.  She has totaled 1,004 in her career to date.

Daemen looks to right the ship on Saturday when they travel further out on Long Island to face Molloy College for a 12 p.m. match.