FLUSHING, N.Y. – The Daemen College volleyball team suffered a straight-set conference loss to Queens College (20-25, 23-25, 18-25) on the road in the Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
With the loss, Daemen drops to .500 with a 12-12 overall record and a 7-4 mark in East Coast Conference play. The Wildcats fell from third to fourth place, right behind N.Y. Institute of Technology. Queens College will increase to sixth place in the ECC with a 4-7 mark in conference play and an 8-13 overall record.
Freshman outside hitter
Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) notched yet another double-double (11 kills, 13 digs) in a losing effort to the Wildcats. Bianca Steele and Arielle DiCocco both posted 10 kills while Jessica Yin paced the Knights with 33 assists.
The teams went back-and-forth early in the opening set before Queens picked up a four-point spurt to put them ahead 7-3 early in the set. Daemen would bounce back with five straight to place themselves up by one (8-7). The teams were tied at 13 before the Knights jumped ahead 17-13. The Knights capitalized on Wildcat errors to come out on top in the first, 25-20.
The Wildcats earned an early lead in the second set. A kill from
Ashley Drzymala placed the Wildcats at a 9-3 lead. The Knights were able to tie the game at 21-21 for the first time during the second set with a five-point run. Queens gained their first lead at 23-22 and finished the game by winning the next three points.
Daemen earned an early lead once again before the Knights came back to pick up the lead. The final set was tied at 15-15 before Queens went on to win the next seven points. Daemen would answer back with five straight. Queens repeated their efforts by winning three straight. Malaika Hollis would have the last say with a kill to end the game at 21-25, and thus ending the match as well.
The Knights had three times as many blocks as Daemen during the match.
Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen) had the only two blocks for the Wildcats.
Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) put up 31 assists in a losing effort for Daemen.
The Wildcats will continue competition tomorrow (October 31, 2015) on the road in Rockville Centre, N.Y. in an ECC match up against Molloy College.