AMHERST, N.Y. - For the second time in as many home matches this season, the Daemen College volleyball team was resilient enough to outlast its opponent in a five-set thriller, defeating Molloy College tonight, 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 25-14, 22-25, 15-11), before the Wildcat faithful at Lumsden Gymnasium in an East Coast Conference match.

With the win, Daemen improves to 7-8 overall this season, and 2-0 in ECC play, marking the first time the Wildcats have won their first two ECC contests since joining the league back in 2013.  Molloy's hard-luck season continued as the Lions dropped their second five-set match of the year to fall to 2-13 overall and 0-3 in the league.

Middle blocker Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen) was the catalyst for Daemen tonight.  The 6-foot-1 senior came through with season-highs of 18 kills and seven blocks tonight.  She came into the contest with 32 kills and a .450 hitting percentage in three career matches against the Lions, and she didn't let up tonight, improving to 4-0 in her career against Molloy.

First-year Daemen head coach Bob Maxwell also saw a more balanced attack pay dividends tonight, getting 16 kills from freshman Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and 13 more from junior Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster).  Sophomores Jenna Reeser (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) (eight kills) and Rachel Stephenson (Hamburg, N.Y./FrontieR) (seven kills) combined for 15 kills as well.

Both Drzymala's added double-figure digs to record double-doubles tonight.  Amber totaled 17 for her second double-double of the season, while Ashley chipped in with 12 for the third double-double of her career.  Freshman Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) added 14 digs to the Daemen defensive cause.

The Wildcats also got more solid play from sophomore setter Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Wesbter Schroeder).  The reigning ECC Setter of the Week notched 54 assists in this one, adding nine digs and three kills which came at key moments in the match for Daemen.  The performance tonight marked her second match of the season with at least 50 assists, and the third such match of her career.

Trailing 19-17 in the first set, Daemen made their move to strike first in the match, winning eight of the final points in the set, including seven in a row to close it out, 25-20.  Wang notched five kills in the run to emphatically announce her presence.

Molloy overcame an early 12-4 deficit in the second, coming back to knot the match at one-set apiece.  Another kill by Wang put Daemen ahead 20-16, but the Lions responded with five-straight points to pull ahead, 21-20.  Back-to-back service aces by Ally De Kruyf keyed the spurt for Molloy.  The teams went on to trade points until Molloy erased a one-point Daemen lead (23-22) by winning three-straight points to closeout the set.

Daemen would jump out to a 13-6 lead and never look back in the third.  Molloy pulled within four at 14-10, but the Wildcats would go on to extend the lead to 21-13.  After a bried Molloy respite, Daemen won the final four points of the set, including two kills by Ashley Drzymala, to closeout the set, and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

But, Molloy wouldn't go quietly into the Western New York night, using a 5-0 spurt to take control of the fourth set at 14-9.  Daemen would pull within two at 21-19 following a McKrell kill and a Molloy attack error, but the Lions regrouped with three-straight points.  After three-in-a-row for Daemen to make it interesting, Carly Banks came through with a big swing to close it out for Molloy, 25-22.

In the deciding set, Daemen jumped out to a 7-5 lead and used a quick 3-0 spurt to really establish control.  The Wildcats were aided by a pair of Molloy errors in the spurt, also getting a service ace from Amber Drzymala.  Molloy would go on to pull within three points on five ocassions, but the Wildcats never let them over the hump, and a Stephenson kill closed out the set and the match.

Cassie Palmer led a balanced Molloy attack with 10 kills.  Samira Escobar narrowly missed a double-double with nine kills and 13 digs.  De Kruyf added a team-high 22 assists in the loss.

Daemen pounded 65 kills in the match, some 17 more than the Lions.  The Wildcats also held the edge in hitting percentage, out-attacking the Lions .256 to .133.

The win tonight gives Daemen five wins in six all-time matches against Molloy.

Daemen goes for the weekend sweep when they host Queens College in another ECC match tomorrow (Saturday, October 3) at 11 a.m.  For continuing coverage on the Daemen volleyball team throughout the season, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.