THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's volleyball team hosts Queens College (Nov. 1) and Molloy College (Nov. 2) this weekend in East Coast Conference action…both matches begin at 11 a.m. at Lumsden Gymnasium…it will mark the final two home games for Daemen this season.
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014
Queens at Daemen - 11 a.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014
Molloy at Daemen - 11 a.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
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 150-175 (.462) 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...Leanna Taylor is in her fourth season as head volleyball coach at Queens. Billy Corrao is in his fourth season as head volleyball coach at Molloy.
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 limited history with their two opponents this weekend...Daemen will be meeting Queens for just the fourth time…the Knights posted a 3-1 victory (23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-20) over the Wildcats earlier this month at Queens…Tori Bowser and Arielle Dicocco led the hosts with 15 kills each…Lindsey Nowak (14 kills) and Amber Drzymala (21 digs) paced the Wildcats….Daemen and Queens met for the first time ever last year and Daemen swept the season series…the Wildcats posted a 3-1 victory (25-18, 25-13, 19-25, 25-23) at Lumsden Gym and completed the sweep with a 3-1 win (22-25, 25-20, 27-25, 25-13) at Queens…Daemen will be meeting Molloy for the fifth time…the Wildcats have prevailed in three of the previous four meetings…the Lions recorded their first-ever win over Daemen earlier this year at Molloy following a 3-0 victory (25-12, 25-22, 25-19)…Danielle Williams totaled 11 kills for Molloy, while Amber Drzymala totaled eight kills and nine digs for Daemen…DC swept the Lions last year, posting a 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-20) victory at Daemen and completing the sweep with a 3-0 win (25-22, 25-23, 25-22) at Molloy…the teams met for the first time ever during the 2012 season…Daemen posted a 3-0 (25-22, 25-10, 25-21) victory at Lumsden Gymnasium...it marked the 2012 season-finale for Daemen.
THE WILDCATS (1-24; 1-11 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 have lost 10-straight matches and are coming off a 3-1 loss at Mercy last weekend…Nowak has recorded double-digit kills 15 times this season and equaled her career-high for kills (21) in the loss to Mercy last weekend…she leads the team in kills (258) and ranks second in blocks (29) and ranks fifth in digs (78)…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 (234) and service aces (32) and ranks second in kills (224)…McKrell had 63 assists in the five-set loss to Kutztown and has totaled a team-high 480 assists…she also ranks fourth in digs (89)…additional production has come from Turcer (203 digs), sophomore Ryanne Dugan (126 assists), Reeser (136 kills, 22 blocks) and Steck (83 kills).
SALUTE TO THE SENIORS: Sunday's match will mark the final home game in the careers of seniors Lindsey Nowak and Chelsea Turcer…both players are four-year members of the program and have led the Wildcats to 77 victories and two United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national titles…they will be honored during a ceremony between the second and third sets.
THE KNIGHTS (9-13; 3-9 ECC): Queens was picked eighth in the ECC preseason poll...the Knights finished 10-14 overall (4-12 ECC) last year...Queens snapped a five-match losing streak following a 3-1 victory over Pace Tuesday…the Knights upset ECC preseason favorite LIU Post (3-1) last month…junior Arielle DiCocco had 17 kills and 11 digs in the win over Pace on Tuesday and has totaled a team-high 272 kills…additional production has come from sophomore Tori Bowser (185 kills, 56 blocks), senior Francesca Indoni (170 kills, 124 digs, 65 blocks) and juniors Taylor Garrett (544 assists, 29 aces) and Xhesi Domi (358 digs).
THE LIONS (11-14; 5-7 ECC): Molloy was picked seventh in the ECC preseason poll...the Lions posted a 9-20 record (3-13 ECC) last year...the Lions have won just four of their last 10 games and split two non-league matches last weekend…they defeated Southern Connecticut (3-0) before suffering a 3-1 loss to Merrimack…Molloy plays at Roberts Wesleyan Saturday before facing Daemen Sunday…senior Sam Berna (173 kills, 161 digs, 34 aces), juniors Cassie Palmer (146 kills, 148 digs) and Danielle Williams (221 kills, 136 digs, 17 aces) and sophomore Ally De Kruyf (626 asts, 140 digs) have led the way...Berna had 17 kills in the win over Merrimack, while De Kruyf registered 40 assists in a recent 3-2 loss to LIU Post.
DID YOU KNOW?: Senior Lindsey Nowak recorded her 1,000th career kill earlier this month and enters the weekend with 1,068 kills in 132 career matches…Nowak ranks sixth among the ECC leaders in total kills (258) and fifth in kills per set (3.27)…senior Chelsea Turcer recorded her 600th career dig recently and enters the weekend with 601 digs in 130 career matches…sophomore Amber Drzymala stands just three digs shy of 500 for her career…Drzymala ranks ninth among the ECC leaders service aces (32) and 12th in both kills (224) and digs (234)…Katie McKrell ranks eighth among the league leaders in total assists (480) and seventh assists per set (6.00).
ROAD WARRIORS: Daemen has played 136 matches since the start of the 2011 season and 107 of the 136 matches have been played away from the friendly confines of Lumsden Gym. The Wildcats are 59-48 (.551) on the road since the start of the 2011 season.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats close out the 2014 season next weekend when they head to Long Island for ECC matches at New York Tech (Nov. 7) and LIU Post (Nov. 8).
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.
