Volleyball Faces Stiff Tests On Long Island This Weekend

Wildcats Put Unblemished ECC Mark On The Line AT NYIT & LIU Post

THE LEAD: The Daemen College volleyball team makes the seven-hour trek to Long Island this weekend to face N.Y. Institute of Technology and Long Island University Post in a pair of East Coast Conference clashes.

Friday, October 9 (at Recreational Hall, Old Westbury, N.Y.)
Daemen at NYIT, 6 p.m.
DC ROSTER / NYIT ROSTER / DC STATS / NYIT STATS
LIVE STATS / STREAMING VIDEO

Saturday, October 10 (at Pratt Recreation Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Daemen at LIU Post, 12 p.m.
DC ROSTER / LIUP ROSTER / DC STATS / LIUP STATS
LIVE STATS / STREAMING VIDEO

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 (8-8, 3-0 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...last week, 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...Ashley Drzymala has keyed the Wildcats' uprising of late...the 5-foot-10 outside hitter has recorded double-figure kills in 11 of the Wildcats' last 12 matches...through 16 matches this season, the younger Drzymala leads the team in kills (194) and service aces (35)...she currently ranks third in the ECC in total kills and kills per set (3.40)...Wang, who has tallied 132 kills and a team-best 44 blocks this season, was downright dominant in last weekend's wins...against Molloy and Queens, 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 124 and 130 digs...McKrell's 535 total assists and 9.39 assists per set both currently rank fourth in the ECC...additional production has come from Reeser (88 kills, 13 blocks) sophomore Rachel Stephenson (58 kills, 24 blocks) and freshman libero Kailey Ballou (214 digs).

THE BEARS (11-3, 1-2 ECC): NYIT is led by head coach Gail Wasmus who is in her 30th year overall, and the 19th year of her second stint leading the program...in that time, Wasmus amassed a record of 540-392 while turning the Bears into a premier program of the East Region...NYIT was voted fourth in the ECC preseason poll...the Bears return 11 players from last season's roster which achieved an overall mark of 13-17 (team's first season below .500 since 2009), and an 8-8 mark in ECC play…the Bears welcome back their top three attackers in Emily Mankowski (295 kills, 28 service aces in 2014), Karolina Moderova (247 kills, 39 service aces in 2014) and Kate Brock (249 kills, 33 service aces in 2014), as well as their top setter, Allison Fowler (792 assists in 2014), and their best back-row defender, Becky Syers (477 digs in 2014…Brock added a team-high 115 blocks and earned first-team All-ECC honors last season...the Bears began the season with eight-straight wins including an ECC win against Queens College…after jumping out of the gates, the Bears are just 3-3 over their last six matches...an ECC loss against predicted conference frontrunner Bridgeport snapped the Bears' winning streak on September 24...NYIT is coming off a pair of non-conference wins over Caldwell and Chestnut Hill gained at a tri-match hosted by Chestnut Hill last Saturday, October 3...Moderova has led the team's offense thus far, racking up 162 kills and 17 service aces...Mankowski has totaled 143 kills thus far...both Moderova (.200 hitting percentage) and Mankowski (.283 hitting percentage) are attacking at a greater efficiency than they did last season when they hit .122 and .179, respectively...Moderova has added 128 digs and a team-high 31 blocks...Fowler has racked up 502 assists, ranking fifth in the league in total assists while topping all ECC players in assists per set with 10.24...additional production has come from Brock (86 kills, 26 blocks) and Syers (231 digs)...freshman Portia McIntosh has totaled 116 digs to lead the Bears' newcomers...as a team, NYIT enters this weekend's match ranked first in the ECC in kills per set (12.92) and assists per set (12.29), while ranking second in blocks per set (2.02).

THE PIONEERS (14-4, 2-1 ECC): Shellane Ogoshi is in her seventh season as head coach of the Pioneers...Ogoshi, whose career record stands at 133-85 heading into this weekend, led the Pioneers to their most successful campaign in 2013 with a 25-10 record and the first NCAA East Region title in school history along with a ACVA's final top-25 ranking…last season, LIU Post went 20-14 overall, including an 11-5 mark in the ECC...the Pioneers advanced to the conference tournament championship where they fell to Bridgeport in three sets, but still earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament...the Pioneers return just five players from last season, but the returners include second-team All-ECC pick Melissa Hansen and the 2014 ECC Rookie of the Year, Danielle Valenza...Hansen totaled 219 kills and led the league in total blocks with 118, while Valenza led the Pioneers and ranked third in the league in total kills (363) last season...the Pioneers, who welcome nine newcomers to their roster, received three first-place votes and finished second in the ECC preseason poll...after going 5-3 in back-to-back tournaments to open the season, the Pioneers have won nine of their last 10 outings coming into this weekend...the lone loss in that stretch came to defending ECC champ Bridgeport on September 29 which snapped LIU Post's five-match winning streak...the Pioneers rebounded with a 3-0 win over 2014 East Regional champion New Haven on October 1...the Pioneers are coming off a 3-0, non-conference win over Caldwell earlier this week...Valenza has been the offensive catalyst thus far, topping the team and ranking second in the ECC with 202 kills...newcomers Rachel Londot (165 kills, 39 service aces) and Taryn McCullouch (118 kills, 31 blocks) have made an immediate impact...Hansen has chipped in with 107 kills and 23 blocks...freshman setter Giulia Genna has racked up 593 assists, ranking second in the ECC...additional production has come from senior Monica Amador (97 kills, 19 blocks), freshman Elise Strange (55 kills, 30 blocks) and senior libero Rachel Ringor (238 digs)...the Pioneers enter this weekend's match as the league leaders in total kills (823), attacks (2,368), assists (745), service aces (134) and digs (1,108), while ranking second in kills per set (12.66), digs per set (17.05) and total blocks (100).

THE HISTORY VS. NYIT: Daemen is 2-3 against the Bears since 2012...NYIT swept the season series last year after the two teams split the season series in 2013...NYIT got on the board in the series with 3-0 win (25-18, 25-12, 25-16) in Old Westbury, N.Y on September 28...Shelby Cable notched 17 kills and Marija Jovanovic added 39 assists for the Bear victory...Daemen would rebound with a 3-0 win (25-20, 25-22, 25-19) at Lumsden Gymnasium on October 26...Kaitlin Watchey, Ye Wang and Lindsey Nowak led a balanced attack with nine kills each to keep Daemen on top while Kaley Vazquez tallied 16 assists…Daemen took down the Bears in their only match up in 2012…the 3-1 win for Daemen (25-27, 25-22, 25-21, 25-14) was led by Lindsey Nowak who tallied 16 kills for the Wildcats…Wang also added nine kills during the contest while Chelsea Turcer put up 20 assists.

THE HISTORY VS. LIU POST: Daemen is 1-3 against LIU Post since joining the ECC in 2013...the Pioneers swept the season series in 2014... the first matchup in 2013 was won by the Pioneers in four sets (23-25, 25-15, 25-9, 25-17) on September 27…Ye Wang added 13 kills on the day but it was no match for Lulu Centro's 34 assists and Shelby McCool's 12 kills...Daemen came out on top in the second and final matchup of the season in a four-set match (25-17, 14-25, 25-22, 26-24) on October 25…the victory in Lumsden Gymnasium was due to the ball movement of Kaley Vazquez and Chelsea Turcer who each tallied 16 assists to the hands of Kaitlin Watchey, Wang and Lindsey Nowak who each put down nine kills…Amber Drzymala added a pair of aces and 12 digs in the win.

ROAD WARRIORS: Last Tuesday's 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 this weekend's roadies, Daemen has played 156 matches since the start of the 2011 season and 122 of the 156 matches have been played away from Lumsden Gym…the Wildcats are 64-58 (.525) on the road since the start of the 2011 season.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats will be competing strictly in ECC matchups for the remainder of the season…Daemen will take on Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, N.Y. on Wednesday, October 14…this conference match will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Voller Athletic Center.

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.

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Players Mentioned

#6 Lindsey Nowak: OH/RS; 5' 10"; Senior

#4 Chelsea Turcer: S/DS; 5' 7"; Senior

#13 Amber Drzymala: OH; 5' 9"; Junior

#15 Jenna Reeser: OH; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#18 Rachel Stephenson: MB/RS; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#7 Ye Wang: MB; 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior

#10 Ashley Drzymala: OH; 5' 10"; Freshman

#1 Kailey Ballou: L; 5' 7"; Freshman

#11 Katie McKrell: S; 5' 8"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#6 Lindsey Nowak
: 5' 10"; Senior
: OH/RS

#4 Chelsea Turcer
: 5' 7"; Senior
: S/DS

#13 Amber Drzymala
: 5' 9"; Junior
: OH

#15 Jenna Reeser
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: OH

#18 Rachel Stephenson
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: MB/RS

#7 Ye Wang
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior
: MB

#10 Ashley Drzymala
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: OH

#1 Kailey Ballou
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: L

#11 Katie McKrell
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: S