BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The Daemen College women's volleyball team suffered a tough loss in straight-sets to University of Bridgeport (11-25, 19-25, 13-25), the top team in the East Coast Conference, on the road at Hubbell Gymnasium.
Unfortunately, tonight's loss, coupled with Long Island University Post's defeat of Mercy College on Long Island, officially took Daemen out of the running for a berth in the upcoming ECC Tournament that will feature the top four teams from the final conference standings. The Wildcats needed to win tonight's match against the favored Purple Knights in order to stay in the running for the fourth and final tourney berth.
Daemen drops to 7-8 in conference play, standing with a 12-16 mark overall, while Bridgeport, the No. 2 ranked team in the latest NCAA Division II East Region poll, remains in first place in the ECC at 14-1 with an overall mark of 22-8.
Tonight's game was especially difficult for Daemen as the Wildcats played without two of their stars. Freshman outside hitter
Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and senior middle blocker
Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen) both missed the match due to injury. Ashley has led the team in kills and aces the entire season while Wang has been dominant at the net by leading in blocking and hitting percentage.
Freshman middle hitter
Courtney Bernard (Lancaster, Ohio/Fairfield Union) paced Daemen with six kills and two blocks while
Rachel Stephenson (Hamburg, N.Y./Forntier) tallied six kills of her own.
Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) led the Wildcat defense with 10 digs while
Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) put up 16 assists in a losing effort. McKrell's production in the match gives her 1,003 assists this season as she becomes just the fifth player in team history to go over 1,000 helpers in a single season, and the first since Kimmie Mack tallied 1,024 in the 2009 season.
Bridgeport was paced by Sara Cruz who notched 14 kills while Ellie Rich added 38 helpers.
Bridgeport jumped to an early lead by winning 10 of the first 12 points in the opening set. The Purple Knights would keep Daemen in single-digit scoring with another spurt of seven points. Daemen would break up the run by chipping in a few points of their own before the UB would win five-straight to finish the first set at 25-11.
The Wildcats were much more in tune in the second set by not allowing a spurt of more than three points. Bernard chipped in five kills during the frame while McKrell added two of her own. The Wildcats capitalized on Bridgeport errors; however it was a Wildcat error that would end the second for the Purple Knights and give them a two set advantage.
A kill from Mackenzi Knhinicki (Lakeview, N.Y./Frontier) opened up the third set. The rest of the third set almost mirrored the first as Bridgeport jumped to another early lead of 6-1. A kill by Frida Randen ended the third set, and the game at 25-13.
Even if Bridgeport loses their next game, they will still be crowned as regular season champions and will host the ECC Tournament. The winning team of the ECC Tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Daemen will close out their season tomorrow (November, 13) in Oakdale, N.Y. at 11:00 a.m. in a match up against Dowling College.
