AMHERST, N.Y. - Junior women's volleyball player Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen) was named the Daemen College Female Athlete of the Year tonight at the College's 2013-14 Athletics Awards Banquet held in the Social Room of the Charles J. Wick Campus Center.  The award was announced near the end of the evening by master of ceremonies Jeremy White of WGR-550 Sports Radio and Wang was greeted by Daemen President Dr. Gary A. Olson and Director of Athletics William Morris who presented her with a glass-engraved plaque to commemorate the accomplishment.
 
Wang's selection for the award just adds to the laundry list of honors that the 6-foot-1 junior has achieved this season, and in her career as a whole.  She had already been named the volleyball team's MVP earlier in the evening – the second straight season she was so-named – and the long list of accolades from last fall include first team all-conference and first team United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) All-American selections, as well as recognition as the MVP of the USCAA National Championships.  She was twice named the East Coast Conference Player of the Week as well.
 
"Ye was already a very good player when she came to Daemen, however she elevated her game this year to be one of the most dominant players in the conference," Parisi said.  "She was able to be a difference maker in many key matches and was recognized by the USCAA and the ECC.  She is a very competitive young lady both on and off the court, and she excels in the classroom as well."
 
If stepping up her game is what Parisi was looking for out of Wang, then that's exactly what he got as she appeared in all 115  sets while setting new personal benchmarks for kills (397), kills per set (3.45) and hitting attempts (866) to lead the team in all three categories.  Despite increasing her hitting attempts by more than 300 from a season ago, her consistent hitting percentage remained just that, leading the team with a .324 success rate on kill attempts.
 
She also made her presence felt defensively, leading the team in blocks (96) for the third consecutive year, and even added 44 digs, nearly doubling the 46 she had in her first two years.

Wang reached double figures in kills 23 times this season, including in 18 of the team's first 20 matches.  She also hit above .400 in 12 matches.  She hammered home a career-high 20 kills in Daemen's four-set victory over Queens College on October 19.
 
For her career, Wang has already racked up some impressive numbers, establishing herself as one of the Wildcats' all-time greats with yet another season still to go.  She's appeared in 345 sets and has totaled 962 kills and 345 blocks while attacking at a .331 clip.  Since arriving on campus in the fall of 2011, Wang has helped the Wildcats to a 76-35 record (.684), including a 17-5 mark (.773) at the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium.
 
Wang is the first volleyball player to be named as Daemen's Female Athlete of the Year since the award was instituted in 2012.  Prior winners were basketball player Monica Kosior (Grimsby, Ont./Canisius College) and soccer player Lindsay Miller (Pocono Lake, Pa./Pocono Mountain West).
 
Nominations for the award are made by Office of Athletic Communications and nominees are then voted on by the department's head coaches and other full-time staffers.  Additional nominees this year included cross country runner Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora), soccer player Samantha Engel (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden) and basketball player Lindsay Stoddard (Limestone, N.Y./Allegany-Limestone).