ALLENDALE, Mich. - The Daemen College volleyball team rebounded from an earlier defeat to win its second round matchup at the Grand Valley State University Laker Riverfront Classic over Bemidji State University, 3-1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-17, 25-12).

The Daemen victory marked the first in the Bob Maxwell era of the program.  Maxwell, the all-time leader in wins at the University at Buffalo, took over the Daemen program earlier this summer.

The win this evening gave Daemen a split of tournament action on the opening day of the 2015 season.  The Wildcats had dropped a 3-0 decision to Lock Haven University earlier in the day.  With the loss, Bemidji State drops to 0-2; the Beavers dropped a 3-0 decision to Ohio Dominican Dominican earlier this afternoon.

Junior Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and sophomore Jenna Reeser (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) paced a balanced Daemen attack with eight kills apiece.  They were backed up by senior Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen).  The 6-foot-1 middle blocker notched seven kills and two solo blocks in her second match back in the lineup after red-shirting last season.

The Beavers had trouble defending the Wildcats' serve all match long as Daemen racked up 17 service aces.  They were led in that department by freshman Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) who recorded 11.  She added 14 digs as well.

Sophomore Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) set the table with a match-high 27 assists.  Her classmate Paige Recore (Pennelville, N.Y./John C. Birdlebough) chipped in with 13 digs while freshman Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) dug-out a match-best 22 balls.

Daemen jumped out to a six-point lead (10-6) earlier in the opening set, aided by three BSU attack errors and a service error.  The Wildcats maintained a comfortable edge for the majority of the set until BSU cut a 21-16 Daemen lead down to two (21-19) with three-straight points.  Daemen regrouped by winning four of the final five points to closeout the set, finishing with back-to-back kills by Reeser and Wang.

The Wildcats took an early 12-6 lead in the second set before BSU came storming back, knotting the score at 15-all.  The Beavers would go on to take its first lead in the set at 20-19 following a Daemen attack error.  The teams traded points until Daemen took two-straight, one on a kill by Amber Drzymala, the second on a BSU attack error, to take a 24-23 lead.  But, BSU rattled off the next three points to even the match.

The third set was also tied at 15, although this time it was the Wildcats who took control late in the set.  After trading points to get to an  18-all tie, Daemen erupted for a 7-1 run to end the pivotal set, taking a 2-1 lead in the match. An Amber Drzymala kill started the run, followed by back-to-back McKrell service aces.  Leading 22-17, the Wildcats got a Reeser kill sandwiched between one kill each by the Drzymala sisters.

Maxwell's squad carried the momentum from that set into the next, jumping out to leads of 9-0 and 13-1 before BSU knew what hit them.  The Beavers closed the gap to seven (17-10), but would get no closer the rest of the set.  The match ended with back-to-back-to-back service aces by Ashley Drzymala.

Jessica Yost posted a match-high nine kills and added 17 digs to pace the Beavers.

Daemen hit just .051 in the match, but the Wildcat defense limited BSU to a negative hitting percentage (-.030), forcing 30 errors in 132 total attempts.

Daemen resumes tournament play with two matches tomorrow.  The Wildcats take on Quincy University at 10 a.m. before rounding out its trip to The Great Lakes State by playing Concordia University (Ore.) at 2 p.m.

For continuing coverage on the Daemen volleyball team throughout the season, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.