Women's Volleyball 9/16/2017 6:26:00 PM Lea Sobieraski Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Women's Volleyball Sweeps Through Tri-Match

The Wildcats snap seven-match slide with two wins

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Albany, N.Y – The Daemen College women's volleyball team broke its seven-game losing streak after defeating Adelphi University and the College of Saint Rose during a tri-match hosted by Saint Rose today in the N.Y. capital district. The Wildcats captured a five-set win over Adelphi (21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 21-25, 15-7), followed by a straight-set victory over Saint Rose (26-24, 25-23, 25-17).

The wins today run Daemen's overall record to 3-7. Daemen's game against Adelphi marked the fourth consecutive match the Wildcats have played against a team that qualified for the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats' first win today came in a non-conference match up against powerhouse Adelphi, who made their 10^thstraight NCAA Tournament appearance last season. The Panthers defeated Saint Rose earlier in the day 3-1, resulting in a 4-7 overall record. The last meeting between Daemen and Adelphi was in 2012 where the Wildcats came away with a clean 3-0 sweep.

Sophomore Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) led a balanced offense with 15 kills while adding 10 digs, good for her fourth double-double this season. Freshmen Jenn Heritz (Granger, Ind./Penn) posted 11 kills for a .556 attack percentage, while sophomore Cristina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania/Targu Mures) chipped in with 10 kills and a game-high three blocks.

Veteran setter Katie McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) dished out a game-high 44 assists and three service aces. The rookie duo of Ali Greenwood (North Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) and Georgia Wicker (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock) continued to pace the Wildcat defense. Greenwood registered 17 digs and Wicker notched 11 in the five-set victory.

The Wildcats posted 11 service aces and 60 digs in the match compared to the Panther's six aces and 53 digs. In the fifth and deciding set, Daemen limited Adelphi to their lowest hitting percentage of the match (.000).

"We are starting to put it together, when we focus on staying disciplined and playing with intent, it is very high level volleyball," said head coach Stephanie Albano on her team's strong performance today. "We are going to enjoy the wins today and get back to work preparing for our Tuesday match."

The second game of the tri-match pitted Daemen against the host Saint Rose out of the Northeast-10 conference. With the sweep, the Golden Knights fell to an even 6-6 this season.

Meghan Ballou continued to be dominant up front for the Wildcats, hammering down a career-high 17 kills. With 32 total kills on the day, the six-foot outside hitter, surpassed 100 season kills in just 10 matches and sits three shy of 300 career kills. Heritz posted another double-figure kill performance with 11 (.381 attack percentage) and classmate Allison Post (Windsor, Calif./Windsor) added six in the Wildcat win.

McKrell (16 assists) split time with sophomore Sydney MacInnis (Superior, Colo./Fairview) to record 35 of the team's 41 assists in the match. Greenwood registered another 17-dig performance, while Wicker notched 15. Respectively, the pair are averaging 3.55 and 3.18 digs per set.

Daemen ousted Saint Rose in every statistical category (points, kills, aces, assists, and digs) except blocks on route to the straight-set sweep.

Up next, the Wildcats finally make their 2017 home debut on Tuesday, September 19 at 7:00 p.m. Daemen plays host to Le Moyne College in a non-conference matchup at Lumsden Gymnasium, the start of a three-game homestand.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's volleyball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

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

#2 Meghan Ballou: OH; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#8 Sydney MacInnis: S; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#11 Katie McKrell: S; 5' 8"; Senior

#3 Ali Greenwood: DS; 5' 6"; Freshman

#5 Jenn Heritz: MH; 6' 0"; Freshman

#10 Georgia Wicker: DS; 5' 3"; Freshman

#14 Allison Post: OH; 6' 0"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

#2 Meghan Ballou
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: OH

#8 Sydney MacInnis
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: S

#11 Katie McKrell
: 5' 8"; Senior
: S

#3 Ali Greenwood
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: DS

#5 Jenn Heritz
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: MH

#10 Georgia Wicker
: 5' 3"; Freshman
: DS

#14 Allison Post
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: OH