THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's volleyball team heads to Albany, N.Y. tomorrw (Saturday, September 19) to partake in a tri-match against Clarion University and College of Saint Rose. Both games will take place in the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium on the Saint Rose campus. Daemen will put its three-match winning streak on the line by battling against Clarion at 11:00 a.m. and Saint Rose immediately after in a match scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 19
Daemen vs. Clarion, 11 a.m.
DC ROSTER / CU ROSTER / LIVE STATS

Daemen vs. Saint Rose, 1:00 p.m.
DC ROSTER / SR ROSTER / LIVE STATS

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.

DAEMEN VOLLEYBALL PODCAST: Get the latest news and notes surrounding the Daemen volleyball team in episode three of the Daemen Volleyball Podcast with play-by-play announcer Ryan Maxwell manning the mic.  Maxwell recaps the Wildcats' recent matches at the UNH Charger Invitational and Wednesday's home debut vs. Le Moyne while also looking ahead to this weekend's tri-match at Saint Rose.

THE WILDCATS (4-5): 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…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 Wildcats ran their winning streak to three-straight by defeating Le Moyne in a five-set thriller at Lumsden Gymnasium this past Wednesday in the team's 2015 home opener...the Drzymala sisters were key to the victory, combining for 49 kills in the match with both setting personal career-highs (Amber - 25, Ashley - 24)...McKrell tossed in 57 assists and 16 digs for her second double-double of the season...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 younger Drzymala leads the team in kills (104) and service aces (24) heading into this weekend's matches...the elder Drzymala and Wang have totaled 69 kills apiece...additional production has come from McKrell (294 assists), Reeser (45 kills) sophomore Rachel Stephenson (38 kills, 17 blocks) and freshman libero Kailey Ballou (130 digs). 

THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (3-3): Saint Rose is led by veteran coach Brian Goodale who is currently in his 17th season as head coach of the Golden Knights who return nine players from its 2014 team that achieved an 18-9 overall record, and a 10-4 mark in the Northeast-10 Conference...since taking the reins of the program, Goodale has led the Golden Knights to a 266-199 record and three NCAA tournament berths, including an at-large bid earned last season...leading the team is returning junior middle hitter Maryellen Devic who has racked up a team-best 71 kills and 11 aces while adding 72 digs...backing up Devic offensively is senior right-side hitter Carissa Dube with 40 kills..returning junior setter Erica Ziskin currently leads the team with 95 assists..additional production has come from Samantha Atchinson (team-best 79 digs) and Jennifer Gundrum (team-best 16 blocks, 32 kills)...the Golden Knights have split six matches to open the season, partaking in the Long Island Invitational and a quad-match hosted by Roberts Wesleyan...among the Golden Knights' opponents have been three East Coast Conference teams, going 2-1 in those matches...the Golden Knights dropped their season-opener against NYIT in a three-set match, but bounced back with wins over Dowling and East Stroudsburg over Labor Day weekend...In Rochester, N.Y. last weekend, Saint Rose fell to Millersville University Indiana University (Pa.) before downing the host RWC Redhawks...the Golden Knights face Clarion tonight to kick-start this weekend's tri-match.
 
THE GOLDEN EAGLES (1-7): Clarion is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and is led by ninth-year head coach Jennifer Mills...the three-time PSAC West Coach of the Year (2010, 2013, 2014) is the winningest coach in school history, having led the Golden Eagles to a record of 208-78 entering this weekend's action...the Golden Eagles own six-straight NCAA tournament berths and are coming off back-to-back PSAC West titles...Clarion's 2015 roster features 14 returners from last season's squad that went 30-5 overall, and 20-2 in the PSAC, advancing to the second round of the Atlantic Regional portion of the NCAA tournament, but they must replace their top setter, Laura Subject who ranked 10th in the country with 1,341 total assists...Clarion does welcome back four of its top five attackers from last season, all of whom totaled more than 230 kills...that group is paced by sophomore outside hitter Taylor Braunagel who tallied a team-best 354 kills in 2014...also back is the trio of junior right-side hitter Mackenzie Biggs (288 kills), sophomore middle hitter Gabrielle Olson (264 kills) and senior middle/outside hitter Abbey Cox (237 kills) who joined Braunagel to combine for 1,143 kills last season, 68-percent of the team's total (1,675 kills)...Olson and Braunagel have led the way offensively early this season with 64 and 63 kills, respectively...the Golden Eagles have also gotten 258 assists from junior setter Kaley Pittsley and 123 digs from senior libero Morgan Seybold...early non-conference matches have been unkind to the Golden Eagles thus far in 2015, dropping seven-straight matches to open the season before jumping in the win column last Saturday...the early season bad luck included four home losses at their own Tony Banner Memorial Tournament...four-set losses to Hillsdale and North Alabama were sandwiched between three-set defeats to Ashland and Indianapolis...last weekend, Clarion went 1-3 at the California (Pa.) Tournament, falling to Saginaw Valley State (3-0), Bridgeport (3-1) and Truman State (3-1) before besting Fairmont State in four sets...the Golden Eagles square off against tri-match host Saint Rose tonight to start this weekend's action in Albany.

THE HISTORY: Daemen has a very limited history with their opponents for Saturday's tri-match...the matchup with Clarion will be the teams' first meeting since August 30, 2005, a 3-1 win for the Golden Eagles at home...Saturday's match with Saint Rose will be the teams' first-ever meeting.

ROAD WARRIORS: Daemen will open the 2015 season by playing 12 of its first 13 matches away from the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium…Daemen has played 149 matches since the start of the 2011 season and 117 of the 144 matches have been played away from Lumsden Gym…the Wildcats are 62-55 (.530) on the road since the start of the 2011 season.

WANG'S MILESTONE: In last Friday's loss to Post, 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 Nowakwho 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: Daemen will get back into competition with their first ECC match of the season as they compete in a tri-match against the host team, Mercy College on September 26 at 10:00 a.m. in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y...the Wildcats continue competition as they face Bentley University immediately after in a non-conference affair...click HERE to view the Wildcats' 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.