THE LEAD: The Daemen College volleyball team makes the short trip to Rochester to battle thruway rival Roberts Wesleyan College in an East Coast Conference match.

Wednesday, October 14 (at Voller Athletic Center, Rochester, N.Y.)
Daemen at Roberts Wesleyan, 7 p.m.
DC ROSTER / RWC ROSTER / DC STATS / RWC STATS
LIVE STATS

DIVISION II DEBUT: Daemen successfully completed a three-year membership process and was approved for active membership status at the NCAA Division II level by the NCAA Membership Committee his past summer…Daemen was accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) in July of 2012 and began playing full regular-season conference schedules in the fall of 2013…the 2015-16 academic year will mark the first year Daemen will be eligible for ECC and NCAA post-season play. 

MEET THE NEW BOSS: Bob Maxwell enters his first season as the head women's volleyball coach at Daemen…a longtime fixture in the Western New York volleyball scene, Maxwell comes to Daemen after spending 32 years in a variety of roles at the University at Buffalo…he led the Bulls' women's volleyball program from 1981-98, a period of time which saw the program ascend from Division III to Division II and eventually to Division I…in that span, Maxwell's teams achieved a record of 409-285-8, giving Maxwell more wins than any coach in any sport in UB's history…he will be assisted by Stephanie Albano and Kaley Vazquez.

THE WILDCATS (9-9, 4-1 ECC):  Daemen returns eight players from last year's team that posted a 2-27 overall record and a 2-14 mark in the East Coast Conference…the Wildcats were voted sixth in the 2015 ECC preseason poll…first-year head coach Bob Maxwell will also welcome Ye Wang back to the fold…Wang, a first-team All-ECC selection in 2013, sat out the 2014 season…the 6-1 senior led the team in kills (397) and blocks (97) in 2013…also topping the list of returning players are junior Amber Drzymala and sophomores Katie McKrell and Jenna Reeser…Drzymala led the team in service aces (36) and digs (280) and ranked second in kills (268) last year…McKrell paced the team in sets (612), while Reeser ranked third in kills (165), fourth in blocks (25) and fifth in digs (96)…after opening the season with one win in their first six matches, the Wildcats are 7-3 over their last 10 matches...a pair of three-set wins over Assumption and Georgian Court on the second day of Charger Invitational ignited the string of solid play...freshman Ashley Drzymala was named to the all-tournament team after posting 57 kills, 34 digs and 12 service aces...the Wildcats ran their winning streak to three-straight by defeating Le Moyne in a five-set thriller at Lumsden Gymnasium on Sept. 16 in the team's 2015 home opener...the Drzymala sisters were key to the victory, combining for 49 kills while both setting personal career-highs (Amber - 25, Ashley - 24)...the result marked the Wildcats' first five-set win since October 29, 2013 over Roberts Wesleyan, and the team's first five-set win when dropping the first two sets since September 3, 2011 in a neutral site match versus Oklahoma City University...the Wildcats went on to split four matches at back-to-back tri-matches, picking up wins over Saint Rose and Mercy, while suffering defeats to Clarion and Bentley...the win over Mercy on September 26 marked Daemen's first-ever win in an ECC opener, and their first-ever road win in the all-time series versus the Mavericks...Daemen suffered a non-conference road loss at Edinboro on September 29, before rebounding for a weekend sweep of ECC opponents Molloy and Queens...the weekend wins pushed Daemen to 3-0 in conference play for the first time since joining the ECC in 2013...Daemen is coming off a split of conference road matches at NYIT and LIU Post last weekend...NYIT halted the Wildcats' conference winning streak, defeating Daemen in four sets on October 9, before Daemen rebounded with five-set defeat of LIU Post the following day...Ashley Drzymala matched a career-high with 24 kills and added a career-best 18 digs in the win over LIU Post, while McKrell contributed 51 assists...the win over LIU Post was Daemen's fourth-straight win in five-set matches this season, moving the Wildcats to 4-1 in such matches this year....it also marked Daemen's first five-set win on the road since November 1, 2011 versus Buffalo State College...Ashley Drzymala has keyed the Wildcats' uprising of late...the 5-foot-10 outside hitter has recorded double-figure kills in 13 of the Wildcats' last 14 matches...through 18 matches this season, the younger Drzymala leads the team in kills (233) and service aces (39)...she currently ranks second in the ECC in total kills and third in kills per set (3.53)...Wang, who has tallied 158 kills and a team-best 53 blocks this season, was downright dominant in wins against Molloy and Queens, when she put up 35 total kills, including a season-high 18 vs. Molloy, and attacked at a .400 clip...Amber Drzymala has chipped in with 147 and 150 digs...McKrell's 619 total assists and 9.38 assists per set both currently rank fourth in the ECC...additional production has come from Reeser (96 kills, 14 blocks) sophomore Rachel Stephenson (61 kills, 24 blocks) and freshman libero Kailey Ballou (242 digs). 


THE REDHAWKS (1-13, 1-4 ECC):  RWC is led by first-year head coach Doug Porterfield…the Redhawks return eight players off their 2014 roster which achieved an overall record of 16-11, an ECC mark of 10-6 and a berth in the ECC Tournament...RWC welcomes 10 new players to the team in 2015, and they were picked fifth in the ECC preseason poll…Roberts Wesleyan said goodbye to top setter Maggie Cancannon who totaled 798 assists last season…leading the returners is sophomore outside hitter Courtney Taylor who leads the team last season with 321 kills…Rebekah Sanchez also returns to lineup, and has contributed 132 digs so far…sophomore Elisabeth Rivera leads the Redhawks with 343 assists…the Redhawks got off to a slow start this season as they dropped their first seven contests… a five-set match against Mercy bounced the Redhawks back and earned them their first win of the season as well as a 1-0 record in conference play on September 19…but, RWC is winless in its last six outings heading into Wednesday's matchup with Daemen...the team dropped a set of games against Bloomfield College and Le Moyne before they were back to ECC matchups… the Redhawks faltered in a pair of home ECC contests against Queens Colelge and Molloy College the team opened the weekend with a loss to Queens…the weekend ended with a five-game battle that was lost to Molloy…Daemen and Roberts Wesleyan both played their last two games against NYIT and LIU Post… much like the Wildcats, the Redhawks fell to the Bears…where Daemen rose, Roberts Wesleyan fell in a conference match up against LIU Post.

THE HISTORY VS. THE REDHAWKS:  Since 2005, RWC owns a 13-10 lead in the all-time series, but eight of those wins came between 2005-07...Daemen has gone 10-5 against the Redhawks since 2008...last season, RWC swept the season series, winning in three sets in both matchups...Daemen's last win against the Redhawks came on October 29, 2013, winning at home in a five-set affair...Ye Wang totaled 19 kills to lead the way, while Lindsey Nowak totaled 14, and Brittany Anthon (11 kills, 20 digs) and Amber Drzymala (10 kills, 18 digs) each posted double-doubles...the Wildcats last win in Rochester came  earlier that same season on October 2, 2013 in a three-set affair...Wang notched 14 kills in that one.

ROAD WARRIORS: A September 29 match at Edinboro marked the end of a murderous stretch for the Wildcats who opened the 2015 season by playing 13 of its first 14 matches away from the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium…Heading into Wednesday's contest, Daemen has played 158 matches since the start of the 2011 season and 124 of the 158 matches have been played away from Lumsden Gym…the Wildcats are 65-59 (.524) on the road since the start of the 2011 season.

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen remains in ECC play by hosting Dowling (Friday, October 16) and Bridgeport (Saturday, October 17) this weekend.

FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College women's volleyball on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics /@DaemenVB) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.