THE LEAD:  The Daemen College women's volleyball team will play its first home game of the 2015 season when it hosts Le Moyne College on Wednesday.  The Wildcats will play the Dolphins at 7:00 p.m. at Lumsden Gymnasium on the Daemen campus.

Daemen vs. Le Moyne
Wednesday, Sept. 16 – 7:00 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
 
NEW TICKET POLICY: For the first time, Daemen Athletics will charge a nominal fee for admission to home volleyball games this season.  Spectators will be charged $3 for admission.  Children under the age of five will be admitted free of charge.  Also, Daemen College students, faculty and staff will be admitted free of charge when showing their valid Daemen identification card.

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 (3-5): 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)…the Wildcats opened the 2015 season at the Grand Valley State University Laker Riverfront Classic over Labor Day weekend…DC defeated Bemidji State (3-1) and lost to Lock Haven (3-0), Quincy (3-0) and Concordia (Ore.) (3-0) during the tournament…Wang had a successful return to action as she totaled a team-high 59 kills…last weekend, the Wildcats competed in the Charger Invitational hosted by defending East Region champion University of New Haven, splitting four matches...the Wildcats took the host Chargers to five sets before falling, an impressive showing against a team that went 24-9 last season...a Friday night loss to Post University was followed by a pair of wins over Assumption College and Georgian Court University on Saturday...freshman Ashley Drzymala was named to the all-tournament team after posting 57 kills, 34 digs and 12 service aces.

THE DOLPHINS (7-1): Le Moyne, led by third-year head coach Lizzie Cheek, returns seven players, including two starters from last year's team that posted a 10-13 overall record, and a 7-7 mark in the Northeast-10 Conference...leading the returnees is the team's leading attacker from last year in 5-foot-10 outside hitter Natalie Casson who put down a team-best 252 kills in 2014...also back is 5-foot-9 outside hitter Andrea Buchanan, a native Western New Yorker (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) who posted 234 kills last season...the Dolphins are off to a good start in 2015 as they've rattled off seven wins in eight outings with each of their games having been played on the road...Le Moyne opened the season by sweeping four matches at the Georgian Court University Invitational, including a pair of three-set victories over East Coast Conference teams Mercy College and Roberts Wesleyan College...that was followed by a 3-1 showing at the Wildcat Regional Invitational hosted by Wilmington University, falling only to the host Wildcats in their tournament finale, while collecting wins over a trifecta of Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference teams (Holy Family University, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College)...Casson has led the way thus far, leading the team with 86 kills while attacking at a .236 clip...the Dolphins have gotten immediate production from freshman right-side hitter and Western New York native Jessicsa Miller (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) who has accumulated 65 kills and a team-leading 18 blocks to date...additional production has come from returnees Buchanan (40 kills, 80 digs) and Danica Durdines (58 kills, 16 blocks) as well as from newcomers Mikayla Porr (team-leading 108 digs) and Anna Hafoka (57 kills, 10 blocks).

THE HISTORY: Wednesday's match will mark the fourth-straight year and the 12th time overall the Wildcats and Dolphins have met...Daemen owns a 7-4 advaantage in the all-time series and have prevailed in seven of the last nine meetings...the Wildcats' four-game winning streak in the all-time series came to a halt last year when Le Moyne scored a 3-1 victory (20-25, 25-22, 25-11, 26-24) in Syracuse on October 1...Kristen Willets led a balanced Dolphin attack with 12 kills while setter Megan Maisonet posted a double-double with 46 assists and 12 digs...Daemen was paced by the 15 kills of Lindsey Nowak and the double-double of Amber Drzymala (10 kills, 11 digs)...prior to the outcome last season, Le Moyne's last win over Daemen came during the 2005 season...Le Moyne's last trip to Daemen resulted in a 3-0 sweep for the Wildcats (25-18, 25-14, 25-22) on September 25, 2013...Nowak posted a match-high 12 kills in the Wildcats' victory...you can see highlights of that match HERE.

HOME SWEET HOME: Wednesday's match marks the Wildcats' 2015 home opener at Lumsden Gymnasium where Daemen has posted a winning record in four of the last six seasons...since 2009, Daemen has recorded a record of 29-22 (.569 winning percentage) at Lumsden Gymnasium...last season's 2-7 home record snapped a string of three-straight winning seasons from 2011-13, compiling a 17-5 mark (.773 winning percentage) in that span.

WANG'S MILESTONE: In last Friday's loss to Post University, middle blocker Ye Wang recorded the 1,000th kill of her career...a staple of the program since arriving on campus in 2011, in her years of competition, Wang has led the Wildcats to a 79-40 record to date, as well as back-to-back United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championships (2012, 2013)...in reaching the 1,000-kill plateau, she becomes the second Daemen player to do so in as many years joining former teammate Lindsey Nowak who achieved the milestone during her senior season in 2014.

WEEKLY HONORS: Following Daemen's weekend split at the UNH Charger Invitational, a pair of Wildcats picked up weekly honors from the East Coast Conference...sophomore setter Katie McKrell was named ECC Setter of the Week after posting a league-leading 9.93 assists per set last week...McKrell topped 30 assists in all four matches, including a season-high 37 assists in the five-set loss to UNH...McKrell's 237 total assists this season presently ranks second in the ECC...freshman outside hitter Ashley Drzymala was named ECC Rookie of the Week after posting 57 kills, 34 digs and 12 service aces and a selection to the Charger Invitational all-tournament team last week...Drzymala's performances included a pair of double-doubles and she became the first Daemen player to garner Rookie of the Week honors since Daemen joined the ECC back in 2013...her 80 kills so far this season ranks fourth in the league and first among all ECC freshmen.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats conclude a busy week on Saturday, Sept. 19 when they travel to Albany, N.Y. to take part in a tri-match hosted by College of Saint Rose…Daemen will face Clarion University before squaring off against the host Golden Knights…click HERE for the complete 2015 schedule.

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.