THE LEAD: The Daemen College volleyball team will battle thruway rival Roberts Wesleyan College in an East Coast Conference match tomorrow, October 20, at home in Lumsden Gymnasium.

Tuesday, October 20 (at Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.)
Daemen at Roberts Wesleyan, 7:30 p.m.
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LIVE STATS / VIDEO / GAME PROGRAM

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 (10-11, 5-3 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 9-4 over their last 13 matches..a 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 has gone on to add ECC wins over Molloy, Queens, LIU Post and Roberts Wesleyan, while their lone setback in the league came on October 9 at N.Y. Institute of Technology...the wins against Molloy, Queens and LIU Post were all five-set affairs, moving Daemen to 4-1 in five-set matches this season...Daemen came off a 3-0 win at thruway rival Roberts Wesleyan before matching up against Dowling College and Bridgeport at home...the Wildcats fell to the number one and two seeded teams in the ECC... Wang put up five blocks in the four set match against Dowling while McKrell led the team with 42 assists… Ashley Drzymala tallied 14 kills in a losing effort to Bridgeport… the weekend losses set the team back from second place in the conference to fifth… freshman outside hitter Ashley Drzymala has put up big numbers to lead the team in her rookie campaign thus far...the 5-foot-10 outside hitter has recorded double-figure kills in 15 of the Wildcats' last 17 matches...she notched a career-high 24 kills in a non-league win over Le Moyne on September 16, and matched that total in the win over LIU Post, while adding a career-high 18 digs vs. the Pioneers for her fifth double-double of the season...through 19 matches this season, the younger Drzymala leads the team in kills (266) and service aces (41)...she currently ranks second in the ECC in total kills and third in kills per set (3.48)...Wang, who has tallied 183 kills and a team-best 67 blocks this season, was downright dominant in the 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...she is currently fourth in the league in hitting percentage (.297)...Amber Drzymala has chipped in with 175 and 183 digs...McKrell's 721 total assists and 9.49 assists per set both currently rank fourth in the ECC...additional production has come from Reeser (116 kills, 16 blocks) sophomore Rachel Stephenson (68 kills, 26 blocks) and freshman libero Kailey Ballou (269 digs).


THE REDHAWKS (1-16, 1-7 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 140 digs so far…sophomore Elisabeth Rivera leads the Redhawks with 409 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 nine 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… Daemen was able to take down the Redhawks in three short games… much like the Wildcats, the Redhawks fell to Bridgeport and Dowling College.

THE HISTORY VS. THE REDHAWKS:  Since 2005, RWC owns a 13-11 lead in the all-time series, but eight of those wins came between 2005-07...Daemen has gone 11-5 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 14, 2015, winning on the road in a three game match up...Ye Wang totaled 12 kills to lead the way, while Amber Drzymala put up 10 kills and 13 digs to register yet another double-double... Jenna Reeser matched Ambers 10 klills while McKrell registere 37 assists on the night. 

KEEPING PACE: Last weekend's matches mark the completion of the first round of Daemen's 2015 ECC slate, meaning they have played each conference team once, with one meeting still on the docket...nearing the halfway point, Daemen is currently fifth in ECC standings as they battle for a berth in the ECC Tournament next month...the Wildcats (5-3) are currently tied with NYIT and LIU Post in ECC mark, but trail NYIT (16-4) and LIU Post (17-6) in overall standings…  while everyone chases undefeated Bridgeport (8-0)...Dowling remains competitive in second place 6-2, and it appears that those top five teams will battle for the four ECC Tournament berths...the ECC Tournament will feature the top four teams from the final conference standings, and will be hosted by the league's regular season champion...this season marks the first time that Daemen is eligible for a berth in the ECC Tournament, where the winning team receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

ROOKIE SENSATION: Freshman outside hitter Ashley Drzymala was named the ECC Rookie of the Week for matches played October 5-12... this marks the second time this season that the freshman picked up the honor… Drzymala helped Daemen to a split of their two conference road matches as the Wildcats picked up a huge five-set win at LIU Post...for the week, Drzymala totaled 39 kills in 101 attack attempts, hitting at a .178 clip...in the win over LIU Post, she matched a career-high with 24 kills and added a career-best 18 digs for her fifth double-double of the season...after opening the season by averaging 5.8 kills per match in Daemen's first four outings, she's gone on to tally double-figure kills in 15 of the last 17 matches, averaging 14.5 kills per match in that span...through 19 matches this season, the Drzymala leads the team in kills (266) and service aces (41)...she currently ranks second in the ECC in total kills and third in kills per set (3.50).

CLUTCH PERFORMANCES: Success in five-set matches has become the norm in recent weeks for Daemen...the Wildcats have rattled off four-straight wins in five-set matches and are 4-1 this season in matches that go the distance...three of the four wins have come at home, and also three of the four wins have come in ECC play...the latest streak began when Daemen rallied from a two-sets-to-none deficit to visiting Le Moyne in their 2015 home opener, battling back to win on September 16...that win marked Daemen's first five-set victory since October 29, 2013 (vs. Roberts Wesleyan), and their first when rallying from an 0-2 hole in sets since defeating Oklahoma City University on September 3, 2011...Amber Drzymalarecorded a career-best 25 kills, while sister Ashley was nearly as impressive with her career-high 24 kills in the win over Le Moyne...senior middle blocker Ye Wang notched a season-high 18 kills in the win over Molloy on October 2, and added 17 more the following day in the five-set defeat of Queens...Daemen's latest five-set win came on the road at LIU Post last Saturday, October 10 in the Wildcats' first five-set road win since November 1, 2011 at Buffalo State...Ashley Drzymala came through with career-bests of 24 kills and 18 digs to lead Daemen past the Pioneers.

HOME SWEET HOME: Home matches have been few and far between in recent years for the Wildcats...since the start of the 2011 season, Daemen has played just 21-percent of their 159 total matches in that time at Lumsden Gymnasium...Daemen is 3-2 at home this season and the Wildcats have posted a winning record at Lumsden Gymnasium in four of the last six seasons...since 2009, Daemen has recorded a record of 32-24 (.571 winning percentage) in home matches...last season's 2-7 home record snapped a string of three-straight winning seasons from 2011-13, compiling a 17-5 mark (.773 winning percentage) in that span.

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen will conclude their season-long four-match homestand when the Wildcats host Mercy College in a conference match up at 1:00 p.m.

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.