Women's Volleyball 10/24/2018 4:30:00 PM By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Women's Volleyball Ranked 7th In 1st Regional Poll Of 2018

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL NCAA DIVISION II EAST REGION RANKINGS - OCT. 24, 2018
Rank	School	Conference	Overall Record
1	New Haven	NE-10	21-4
2	Adelphi	NE-10	21-5
3	Molloy	ECC	16-6
4	Holy Family	CACC	23-5
5	Pace	NE-10	18-6
6	American International	NE-10	16-10
7	DAEMEN	ECC	15-10
8	Bridgeport	ECC	12-9
9	St. Rose	NE-10	15-9
10	St. Anselm	NE-10	14-9

AMHERST, N.Y. - With 12 wins in their last 16 matches, the Daemen College women's volleyball team is ranked No. 7 in the first NCAA Division II East Region poll of the 2018 season which was released this afternoon at ncaa.com. The East Region of NCAA Division II is comprised of teams from the East Coast Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and the regional rankings are used to determine at-large bids to the East Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament following the respective conference tournaments next month.

Daemen sits at 15-10 overall this season, and their 9-1 mark in ECC play has the Wildcats atop the league standings with their sights set on clinching their second ECC Championships berth in the last three seasons. Coach Stephanie Albano's Wildcats won nine straight ECC contests, the program's longest streak to start a season in their six years as an ECC member, before falling in a five-set thriller to New York Institute of Technology this past Sunday.

NE-10 member University of New Haven, the defending East Region champions, come in at No. 1 in the poll. The Chargers sit at 20-4 overall and 10-1 in their league with four wins against teams included in this first East Region poll. New Haven is one of six NE-10 members included in the poll.

Adelphi University and Molloy College, both of which own wins over New Haven, come in at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. Holy Family University (No. 4) and Pace University (No. 5) round out the top five.

Daemen has featured a balanced offensive attack this season as six players average better than two kills per set. The trio of Tirzah Peters (Amherst, N.Y.), Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y.) and Cristina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania) have led the way. Peters is one of two players to rank in the ECC's top 10 for kills per set while also holding a hitting percentage of .300 or better. She presently ranks seventh in kills per set (2.73) and fourth in hitting percentage (.300) among the league leaders. Ballou is producing 2.66 kills per set (eighth in the league) and Apostol is contributing 2.51 kills per set (12th in the league).

The offense has been quarterbacked all season by freshman setter Isa McCaffrey (North Royalton, Ohio) who leads the ECC by averaging 10.75 assists per set. McCaffrey has been a six-time weekly honoree from the conference, collecting four ECC Setter of the Week and two ECC Rookie of the Week selections.

Defensively, Daemen ranks third in the ECC in digs per set, averaging 16.87 as a team. That effort has been led by sophomores Ali Greenwood (North Aurora, Ill.) and Georgia Wicker (Woodstock, Ill.) who have combined for 644 digs this season. Greenwood, who totaled a career-high 33 digs in Sunday's loss at NYIT, ranks fourth in the ECC in both total digs (377) and digs per set (4.24).

Daemen is 3-1 this season against teams ranked in the poll this week. The Wildcats hold victories over No. 3 Molloy, No. 8 University of Bridgeport and No. 9 College of St. Rose, while their lone loss was to top-ranked New Haven.

Daemen is included in the regional rankings for the first time since the 2016 season when they debuted at No. 2 before ascending to the No. 1 ranking, a position they held for two successive weeks before eventually earning the No. 2 seed to the NCAA Division II East Region Championships. The Wildcats went on to advance to the regional finals and finished the 2016 campaign with a 25-8 record.

Daemen looks to start a new ECC winning streak when Queens College and Molloy visit Lumsden Gymnasium this weekend. Saturday's meeting with Molloy will take on extra importance with both teams included in the regional poll and chasing the opportunity to host the upcoming ECC Championships.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

#16 Tirzah Peters: MH; 6' 0"; Freshman

#11 Isa McCaffrey: S; 5' 8"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

#16 Tirzah Peters
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: MH

#11 Isa McCaffrey
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: S