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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
wvb team vs molloy
0
Molloy MOL 17-7, 9-3 ECC
3
Winner Daemen DAE 17-10, 11-1 ECC
Molloy MOL
17-7, 9-3 ECC
0
Final
3
Daemen DAE
17-10, 11-1 ECC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Molloy MOL 21 20 19 (0)
Daemen DAE 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Wildcats Sweep Molloy To Clinch #1 Seed In ECC Championships

AMHERST, N.Y. - Just one day removed from clinching a bid to the upcoming East Coast Conference Championships, the Daemen College women's volleyball secured the tournament's number one seed and at least a share of the league's regular season title with a 3-0 victory (25-21, 25-20, 25-19) over Molloy College today at Lumsden Gymnasium. It marks Daemen's second ECC regular season championship, and their first since 2016. The Wildcats are now 17-10 overall and 11-1 in ECC play this season.

The game featured a showdown of the first and second place teams in the current ECC standings, both of which are ranked in the latest NCAA Division II East Region poll. Molloy, the defending ECC champions, are ranked third, while Daemen came in at No. 7. The Wildcats' victory gave them a sweep of the season series with Molloy, and it dropped the Lions to 17-7 overall and 9-3 in the league. 

Sophomore outside hitter Allison Post (Windsor, Calif.) led the way with 13 kills and nine digs for the Wildcats. The California native has now reached double-figure kills in three consecutive matches, averaging 4.55 kills per set on a .273 hitting percentage in that span. Junior right side hitter Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y.) tossed in 11 kills on 22 attempts (.455 hitting percentage) today for her 13th match with double-figure kills this season.

Tirzah Peters (Amherst, N.Y.), Courtney Bernard (Lancaster, Ohio), Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) and Cristina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania) all chipped in offensively, combining for 26 kills. Freshman Isa McCaffrey (North Royalton, Ohio) and sophomore Georgia Wicker (Woodstock, Ill.) split the setting duties for the Wildcats' balanced offense. McCaffrey notched a match-high 25 assists, and became just the seventh player in team history to surpass 1,000 assists in a season. She continues to lead the ECC in both total assists (1,002) and assists per set (10.55). Wicker reached double-figure assists for the second straight matching, totaling a career-best 17.

The Wildcats also got sound defensive efforts from Ali Greenwood (North Aurora, Ill.) and Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y.). Greenwood, the reigning ECC Defensive Player of the Week, posted a match-high 28 digs, while Ballou recorded 11 on Senior Day. The team's lone senior, Ballou was recognized in a brief ceremony before the match which wound up being the 108th of her career.

Molloy was led offensively by the trio of Kacey Affrunti (seven kills), Hailey Wehr (seven kills) and Carly Banks (six kills) who combined for 20 of the team's 36 kills. Sophia Smith totaled 24 assists and Jessica Fischetti totaled 22 digs to help the Molloy cause.

Daemen jumped out to early leads in each of the three sets, and Molloy led only twice in the entire match (2-0 and 3-2 in the second set). A pair of Logan kills and two service aces by McCaffrey keyed a 5-0 spurt in the first set which turned Daemen's 11-9 lead into a 16-9 advantage. Molloy closed to within two points at 23-21, but the Wildcats got back-to-back kills from Bernard and Logan to take the set.

Daemen jumped out to a 17-9 lead in the second frame. Again Molloy rallied, pulling with two (21-19) on a kill by Affrunti. But, Daemen responded by winning four of the next five points to take the set. Kills by Peters and Meghan Ballou ignited the Daemen rally.

Daemen won 13 of the first 16 points in the third set to open up an early 10-point bulge. Post put down five kills in the run for the Wildcats. Molloy didn't go down without a fight however as they rallied to get back within three points at 17-14, prompting a Daemen timeout. Apostol and Post notched back-to-back kills out of the timeout to get the Wildcats back on track. After a long rally, Meghan Ballou's kill off a set by Greenwood ended the match, setting off a raucous celebration from the Wildcats in front of a sizable homecoming crowd. 

By clinching the No. 1 seed to the ECC Championships, Daemen also earns the right to host the event which will take place at Lumsden Gymnasium on Nov. 9-10. Official match times and matchups are yet to be determined. The Wildcats will be hosting the four-team tournament for the second time. The Wildcats also earned the No. 1 seed in 2016, a season in which they advanced to the tournament finals but fell to second-seeded New York Institute of Technology.

Before the conference tournament gets underway, two regular season road games remain on the docket. The Wildcats will visit Mercy College (Saturday, Nov. 3) and the University of Bridgeport (Sunday, Nov. 4) next weekend to close out the regular season. Both Mercy (12-15, 6-6 ECC) and Bridgeport (13-10, 7-5 ECC) are fighting for conference tournament berths.

For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.


 
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