AMHERST, N.Y - If fans of the Daemen College volleyball team had any nails left following yesterday's match versus N.Y. Institute of Technology, there's likely not any left following a five-set loss today (25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 23-25, 14-16) to visiting Long Island University Post in an ultra-important East Coast Conference match at Lumsden Gymnasium.

The loss today drops Daemen to 12-15 overall, and an even 7-7 in ECC play, while LIU Post (20-8, 8-5 ECC) grasps a firm hold on fourth place in the ECC standings.  The results today hold big implications for the upcoming ECC Tournament which will feature the top four teams in the final league standings.

Danielle Valenza paced the Pioneers with a match-high 24 kills, while adding 13 digs for a double-double today.  LIUP got 12 kills from Melissa Hansen and 11 more from Rachel Londot to aid the Pioneer offense.  Setter Giulia Genna posted a match-high 58 assists to lead the Pioneers who recorded 64 kills in the match.

Defensively, Londot added 20 digs, while libero Rachel Ringor posted a match-high 28 digs for the Pioneers.

Daemen was led by the double-double of Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) who recorded 22 kills and 14 digs.  The freshman outside hitter was one of five Wildcats to post double-figure digs today as DC attempted to keep their guests at bay.  Junior Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) led the DC defense with 16 digs, while adding 14 kills.  Sophomore setter Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) posted 45 assists and 14 digs, and the Wildcats got 13 digs apiece from Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) and Paige Recore (Pennelville, N.Y./John C. Birdlebough).

The Wildcats suffered a blow as senior middle blocker Ye Wang (Beijing, China) went down with an injury early in the second set.  Wang posted four kills in the opening frame but did  not return to the match after going out.

Wang and fellow senior Mackenzie Knihinicki (Lakeview, N.Y./Frontier) appeared in the final home match of their careers today.  They were honored in a pre-match ceremony.

After winning four consecutive five-set matches, today's match marked Daemen's third-straight loss in matches that go distance.  All three of those defeats have come in the last nine days.

Daemen looks to right the ship when they travel to league-leading University of Bridgeport this Thursday, November 12.