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HONOLULU, Hawaii -  The Daemen College women's volleyball team suffered a pair of defeats as they opened their 2014 season at the East-West Challenge co-hosted by Chaminade University and Brigham Young University-Hawaii.  In action at Chaminade's McCabe Gym, the Wildcats dropped a 3-0 decision (12-25, 23-25, 19-25) to Florida Institute of Technology in their opener, before falling to the host Silverswords also in straight sets (8-25, 21-25, 22-25).

Against FIT, the opening set started as a tussle and was tied at 7-7 before the Panthers rattled off 11 of the next 13 points to take a comanding 18-9 lead.  The Wildcats would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way as FIT put themselves in the driver's seat.

Daemen rebounded in set two and put themselves in contention to even-up the match.  After trailing by as many as six (17-11) midway through the set, Daemen put together a rally of their own, snapping off 10 of the next 12 points to take a 21-19 lead.  The run was capped by back-to-back kills from freshmen Jenna Reeser (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) and Jakki Steck (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and was the first of three two-point leads the Wildcats would establish late in the set.  A couple of Panther miscues helped Daemen lead 22-20 and again at 23-21, however, the final two points proved elusive for coach Mark Parisi's squad.  FIT secured four straight points, including consecutive kills by Carissa Thiel, to win the set and establish a 2-0 lead in sets.

After establishing a 3-0 lead early in the third set, Daemen battled and found themselves tied at 9-9 after a kill from sophomore Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster).  But, the Panthers went on a run and scored 13 of the next 17 points to open up an insurmountable nine-point gap (22-13).  Daemen battled back to get within five (24-19), helped by three Steck kills and a pair of service aces by classmate Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder), but FIT's Alea Hamm closed out the set with her third kill of the match, delivering the straight-sets victory for the Panthers.

The Panthers' Marilyn Dick led the way with 10 kills.  FIT collected 35 total kills and held a solid attack percentage throughout the match (.303).

Daemen senior Lindsey Nowak (West Seneca, N.Y./Immaculata) matched Dick's 10 kills to share match-high honors.  She also led the team with 24 attack attempts while the freshman Reeser was next with 22.  McKrell notched 11 assists in her first collegiate match while classmate Paige Recore (Pennelville, N.Y./John C. Birdlebough) led in the dig column with six.

A short time later, the Wildcats found themselves locked in competition with Chaminade.  The Silverswords came out swinging in their first match of the tournament and raced to a 15-4 lead, stunning the Wildcats before they knew what hit them. The hosts racked up 15 kills and just two attack errors (.542 attack percentage) as they cruised to a 1-0 lead in sets.

Parisi's team regrouped once again in the second set.  Although trailing for the majority of the set, back-to-back kills by Nowak and a service ace by Drzymala narrowed a 22-17 deficit to just two (22-20), prompting a Chaminade timeout.  A Daemen service error stemmed the tide, but Nowak responded with another kill to again draw Daemen within two (23-21).  But, Chaminade's Kira Long hammered down her team's 15th kill of the set to put them back up by three, and then combined with Reigna Johnson on a block to win the deciding 25th point.

Not content to just go away, Daemen led for the majority of the third set, by as many as four points (12-8, 13-9, 20-16) before the Silverswords closed with a flurry.  Suncica Bakic and Ku'ulei Lynch combined on a block that knotted the score at 21-all.  A Daemen attack error on the next point gave Chaminade its first lead of the set, but Daemen drew even on a kill by Drzymala.  Once again, the final points escaped the Wildcats as Chaminade got a pair of kills by Cassie Rushlow sandwiched around one by Johnson to take the set and the match.

Rushlow was the star of stars for the Silverswords as she collected a match-high 15 kills in 31 attempts.  Valentina Bevilacqua notched 32 assists as well for the hosts who held the edge in kills (44-26) and attack percentage (.348-.132).

Nowak and Drzymala split 16 kills to lead Daemen's offense which also got 12 assists from McKrell and a career-high nine helpers from sophomore Ryanne Dugan (Forestville, N.Y./Forestville Central).  Chelsea Turcer (Alexander, N.Y./Alexander Central) notched seven digs while Drzymala added six.

The good news for the Wildcats is they'll have chances at redemption against both of today's opponents.  Daemen faces FIT at the Eckerd College Classic in St. Petersburg, Fla. on Sept. 13 while they'll clash again with Chaminade in their final match of the East-West Challenge on Saturday when their tour of The Aloha State concludes.

Tournament play shifts to Oahu's windward shore on Friday as BYU-Hawaii's campus picks up the action.  Daemen is set to face the University of Hawaii-Hilo and the host Seasiders as they attempt to even their record in the early going this season.  A full tournament preview including live stats and video links is available at wildcats.daemen.edu where you can always find the latest information on the Daemen College volleyball team.