Courtney Scanlan and the Daemen Wildcats can advance to the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship Elite 8 with a win in the East Regional finals tonight

Women's Volleyball 12/3/2016 11:00:00 AM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Wildcats Play For East Region Title Tonight

No. 2 Daemen Meets No. 4 American International At 5 p.m.; Winner Advances To NCAA Tournament Elite 8

THE LEAD
For the first time ever an NCAA postseason event comes to Lumsden Gymnasium as Daemen College is set to host the East Region Championship portion of the 2016 NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship...the competition here - one of eight regional championships across the country this week - features the top eight teams in the NCAA Division II East Region which is comprised of the East Coast Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference...Daemen is the No. 2 seed in the region, and will face No. 4 American International in the regional finals on Saturday evening after dispatching of No. 7 Post and No. 3 New Haven in the first two rounds...the winner of the regional finals advances to the Elite 8 which is slated for Dec. 8-10 in Sioux Falls, S.D.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Tournament Schedule Announcement

First Round - Thursday, Dec. 1
12:00 p.m.	No. 4 American International vs. No. 5 Le Moyne	3-0	(25-23, 25-12, 26-24)
2:30 p.m.	No. 1 N.Y. Institute of Technology vs. No. 8 Adelphi	3-1	(25-19, 18-25, 25-20, 25-21)
5:00 p.m.	No. 3 New Haven vs. No. 6 Philadelphia	3-2	(25-20, 20-25, 27-25, 22-25, 16-14)
7:30 p.m.	No. 2 Daemen vs. No. 7 Post	3-2	(17-25, 25-20, 17-25, 25-21, 15-12)

Second Round - Friday, Dec. 2
5:00 p.m.	No. 1 NYIT vs. No. 4 American International	3-1	(21-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-17)
7:30 p.m.	No. 2 Daemen vs. No. 3 New Haven	3-0	(26-24, 26-24, 25-12)

Regional Finals - Saturday, Dec. 3
5:00 p.m.	No. 2 Daemen vs. No. 4 American International	LIVE VIDEO	LIVE STATS

NCAA TOURNAMENT LINKS
Interactive Bracket \| Printable Bracket \| Selection Show \| NCAA Release \| Digital Program

TEAM SCOUTING REPORTS

DAEMEN WILDCATS Twitter: @DaemenAthletics, @DaemenVB
RECORD:	25-7, 13-1 ECC
REGIONAL TOURNAMENT SEED:	No. 2
ALL-TIME NCAA TOURNAMENT BIDS:	1
LAST NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE:	N/A
COACH:	Stephanie Albano Career Record: 25-7. first season (.781 winning percentage) At Daemen: Same
LINKS:	Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| Tournament Bid Press Release \| First Round Match Recap \| Second Round Match Recap
BID TYPE:	At-Large
HOW THEY GOT HERE:	ECC regular season champs for the first time in team history Started slowly with eight wins in their first 14 contests Picked things up and rattled off 15 consecutive wins from Oct. 2 through Nov. 18 Making their first-ever ECC Tournament appearance, knocked off fourth-seeded LIU Post in the semifinals before falling on home court to second-seeded NYIT in four sets, snapping 15-match win streak 6-2 in five-set matches Hold a 2-3 record against East Regional qualifiers; only team in the field with a win over top-seeded NYIT Also hold wins over Atlantic Regional qualifiers Shaw and California (Pa.) Needed five sets to get past No. 7 Post in the first round; middle blockers Cristina Apostol (16 kills) and Courtney Bernard (14 kills) each posted career-highs in kills as Bailey Dolegowski doubled up with 56 assists and 18 digs Dispatched of third-seeded New Haven in straight sets in Friday's second round matchup; got 29 assists and 10 digs from Bailey Dolegowski while Amber Drzymala posted a match-high 11 kills
KEY PLAYERS:	OH - Ashley Drzymala (So., 5-10, West Seneca, N.Y.)	422 kills, 3.49 kills/set, .214 hitting percentage, 49 service aces, 324 digs 1st Team All-ECC, ECC Player of the Year
	OH - Amber Drzymala (Sr., 5-9, West Seneca, N.Y.)	368 kills, 3.02 kills/set, .195 hitting percentage, 35 service aces, 355 digs 1st Team All-ECC
	S - Bailey Dolegowski (Fr., 5-8, Marilla, N.Y.)	1152 assists, 9.76 assists/set, 44 service aces, 300 digs 2nd Team All-ECC, ECC Co-Rookie of the Year

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL YELLOW JACKETS Twitter: @aicathletics, @AICvb
RECORD:	27-6, 11-3 NE-10
REGIONAL TOURNAMENT SEED:	No. 4
ALL-TIME NCAA TOURNAMENT BIDS:	2
LAST NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE:	2010, First Round
COACH:	Matt Cribbin Career Record: 97-105, eighth season (.480 winning percentage) At American International: 77-73, fifth season (.513 winning percentage)
LINKS:	Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| First Round Match Recap \| Second Round Match Recap
BID TYPE:	At-Large
HOW THEY GOT HERE:	Finished tied for second in NE-10 regular season standings Started the season with 13 wins in their first 15 outings, falling only to defending East Region champ NYIT and nationally-ranked Nebraska-Kearney Won final eight matches of regular season and entered NE-10 Tournament as No. 2 seed Knocked off seventh-seeded Bentley in NE-10 Tournament quarterfinals before falling on home court to third-seeded and eventual champ New Haven in five sets Hold a 2-4 record against East Regional qualifiers Lost their only matchup of the season with their first round opponent Le Moyne, falling on the road in five sets back on Sept. 27 Had the smoothest first round match of anyone in the region, disposing of fourth-seeded Le Moyne in straight sets; Annie Boele (13 kills, 11 digs) and Dolores Kopren (28 assists, 10 digs) each posted double-doubles to lead the way Pulled off the upset of top-seeded NYIT, the defending regional champs, in four sets in the second round on Friday night; Diva Rivas-Reyes hit .419 with 16 kills while Dolores Kopren posted 49 assists in the win
KEY PLAYERS:	OH - Diva Rivas-Reyes (So., 5-10, Tucson, Ariz.)	450 kills, 4.02 kills/set, .237 hitting percentage 1st Team All-NE-10, NE-10 Player of the Year
	DS - Mercy Rivera (Jr., 5-8, Canovanas, P.R.)	730 digs, 5.79 digs/set, 30 service aces 1st Team All-NE-10, NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year, NE-10 Championship All-Tournament Team
	S - Dolores Kopren (So., 5-7, Novi Sad, Serbia)	1424 assists, 11.48 assists/set, 64 service aces, 304 digs 1st Team All-NE-10
	OH - Jana Potic (Fr., 5-10, Belgrade, Serbia)	347 kills, 2.84 kills/set, .218 hitting percentage, 53 blocks 2nd Team All-NE-10, NE-10 All-Rookie Team, NE-10 Rookie of the Year

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#9 Courtney Bernard: MB/RS; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#13 Amber Drzymala: OH; 5' 9"; Senior

#10 Ashley Drzymala: OH; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#14 Bailey Dolegowski: S; 5' 8"; Freshman

#15 Cristina Apostol: MB; 6' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#9 Courtney Bernard
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: MB/RS

#13 Amber Drzymala
: 5' 9"; Senior
: OH

#10 Ashley Drzymala
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: OH

#14 Bailey Dolegowski
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: S

#15 Cristina Apostol
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: MB