Women's Volleyball 11/2/2018 10:30:00 AM By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Wildcats Wrap Up Regular Season On The Road

GAME INFORMATION & LINKS
Game #28
Daemen Wildcats (17-10, 11-1 ECC) vs. Mercy Mavericks (13-15, 6-6 ECC)
Saturday, Nov. 3 | 12 p.m.
Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. | Victory Gymnasium

LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO

Game #29
Daemen Wildcats (17-10, 11-1 ECC) vs. Bridgeport Purple Knights (13-11, 7-5 ECC)
Sunday, Nov. 4 | 12 p.m.
Bridgeport, Conn. | Hubbell Gymnasium

LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO

THE SERVE
Daemen closes out the 2018 regular season by visiting East Coast Conference foes Mercy and Bridgeport this weekend. The Wildcats have already clinched at least a share of the ECC regular season championship and the number one seed for the upcoming ECC Championship which will be held at Lumsden Gymnasium on Nov. 9-10. Daemen has dropped just a single ECC contest this season, and won 15 of their last 19 matches overall. Both Mercy and Bridgeport remain in the hunt for conference tournament berths. Mercy enters the final weekend in fifth place, one game back of fourth-place Bridgeport.

SUPER STEPH
Stephanie Albano enters her third season as Daemen's head coach in 2018. She was promoted to the position in 2016 after serving one season as the team's associate head coach. In her first two seasons at the helm, Albano led the program to a 36-24 overall record and a 20-8 mark in ECC play. In 2016, she was named the East Coast Conference and NCAA Division II East Region Coach of the Year after leading Daemen to the ECC regular season championship. That season also saw Daemen host both the ECC and NCAA Division II East Regional tournaments with the Wildcats advancing to the finals of each. Albano was also selected as one of the American Volleyball Coaches Association 30 Under 30 award recipients in the spring of 2017.

REGIONAL REPORT
Daemen is ranked No. 3 is the latest NCAA Division II East Region poll which was released earlier this week. After debuting at No. 7 last week, the Wildcats' ascended four spots thanks in part to their three-set victory on Oct. 27 over Molloy which was ranked third in the region at the time. 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 and seeds for the East Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament following the respective conference tournaments next month.

BALANCED ATTACK
The Wildcats have put together arguably the most balanced offensive attack among all ECC teams so far this season. Six players are presently averaging better than 2.0 kills per set - Tirzah Peters (2.73), Meghan Ballou (2.69), Allison Post (2.59), Cristina Apostol (2.42), Jenn Heritz (2.39) and Sam Logan (2.29). Five of the six players rank in the top 15 in the league, while Peters and Ballou also rank in the top 10. Only defending ECC champion Molloy and Bridgeport boast as many as four players averaging better than 2.0 kills per set. As a team, Daemen leads the league and ranks 48th nationally by averaging 13.48 kills per set.

BALLING BALLOU
Junior middle/outside hitter Meghan Ballou had her most productive week of the season from Sept. 10-16, averaging a team-best 3.58 kills per set over three matches which earned her ECC Player of the Week honors. Ballou, a second team All-ECC selection last season, opened the week with 12 kills on 28 attempts in a win over Roberts Wesleyan, and she followed up with a season-high 17 kills in a five-set loss to Urbana, two shy of her career-best effort. She ended the week with 14 kills in a win over Franklin Pierce. The production came at a critical time as the Wildcats were coping with the loss of Jenn Heritz who was out with an injury. Ballou has reached double figure kills in 11 of the last 16 matches. For the season, Ballou ranks among the league leaders in total kills (239 - 8th), total attacks (685 - 6th) and kills per set (2.69 - 8th).

STRONG UP THE MIDDLE
Sophomore Tirzah Peters and junior Cristina Apostol have combined to give Daemen one of the strongest middle hitter combinations in the ECC this season. Peters has made an early case to be considered the ECC's most improved player after being slowed by injuries as a freshman which resulted in just 16 matches played. Peters has been a consistent force in 2018, and she presently ranks among the league leaders in total kills (248 - 6th) and kills per set (2.73 - 7th). Her .310 hitting percentage leads the team and ranks second in the conference; she and Molloy's Kacey Affrunti are the only players to rank in the league's top 10 in kills per set with a .300 hitting percentage or better. Peters has reached double figure kills in 13 matches this season, including a career-high 15 in a win over defending Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference champion Caldwell on Sept. 9. She was named the ECC Player of the Week for Sept. 3-9 after averaging 3.73 kills per set on a .577 hitting percentage over four matches. Apostol is producing 2.42 kills on a .263 hitting percentage, and she leads the team with 48 blocks. She ranks among the league leaders in the total kills (206 - 12th), kills per set (12th), hitting percentage (8th), and total blocks (12th).

ISA'S IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Setter Isa McCaffrey has made an immediate impact in her freshman season. The 5-foot-8 Ohio native has racked up 1,002 assists, a total which presently leads the ECC and ranks 48th nationally. She recorded her 1,000th assist in Daemen's 3-0 win over Molloy on Oct. 27 to become just the seventh player to reach that milestone in a single season. McCaffrey (10.55 assists/set) and Molloy's Sophia Smith (10.12) are the only players in the league to be averaging better than 10.0 assists per set, and McCaffrey ranks 48th nationally in that category. She is on to pace to be the first Daemen player to average better than 10.0 assists per set for an entire season since Kristie Martzolf (11.99) in 2004. McCaffrey has garnered honors from the ECC six times this season. She was named the ECC Rookie of the Week for Aug. 27-Sept. 2 and again for Oct. 1-7. She has also been named the ECC Setter of the Week for Sept. 3-9, Sept. 10-16, Sept. 17-23 and Sept. 24-30.

BERNARD BATTLES BACK
After missing the entire 2017 season with an injury that threatened to end her career, redshirt junior Courtney Bernard has battled her way back into the lineup in 2018. Bernard, who hit .343 and averaged 2.32 kills per set in 2016, has appeared in 26 of the team's 27 matches while making 11 starts so far this season. She's hitting .265 and contributing 1.73 kills per set. Bernard notched a season-high 12 kills in Daemen's 3-1 win over Roberts Wesleyan on Oct. 12.

GET DEFENSIVE
A trio of experienced defensive specialists have played an important role for the Wildcats this season. Kailey Ballou, Ali Greenwood and Georgia Wicker lead a Wildcat defense that presently ranks third in the ECC by averaging 16.87 digs per set. Ballou, the team's lone senior, is closing in on reaching 900 digs for her career (890 presently). Both Greenwood and Wicker have spent time as the Wildcats' primary libero. Greenwood leads the team and ranks fourth in the league with her 4.45 digs-per-set average, She was named the ECC Defensive Player of the Week for Oct. 15-21. Wicker is contributing 2.92 digs per set, and has seen some time at the setting position recently, notching double-figure assists in each of the last two matches.

POSTING UP
Sophomore outside hitter Allison Post has really come on of late and is playing the best volleyball of her career to date. In the last three matches, Post is contributing 4.55 kills per set on a .273 hitting percentage. The stretch started Oct. 21 at NYIT when she powered down a career-high 22 kills to go with nine digs and six blocks. Post followed up by contributing 15 kills and seven digs in a win over Queens, then 13 kills and nine digs in a win over Molloy. Her latest string of good play comes after a five-match stretch from Sept. 21-29, when she recorded her first matches with double figure kills (10 vs. LIU Post on Sept. 22) and double figure digs (11 vs. New Haven on Sept. 23), as well as her first double-double (13 kills, 15 digs vs. Molloy on Sept. 29). In that stretch, Post averaged 2.69 kills and 2.94 digs per set, while attacking at a .197 clip.

COMING OF AGE
Freshman outside hitter Sam Logan is averaged 2.52 kills over a seven-match stretch from Sept. 30 to Oct. 21. She totaled at last eight kills in six of those outings. The stretch started with a nine-kill, nine-dig performance in a 3-0 win over Queens on Sept. 30. She followed that up with nine kills and 15 digs in a 3-1 win over Bridgeport on Oct. 5. Logan went on to total 10 kills in a loss to Le Moyne on Oct. 9, marking her sixth match this season with double-figure kills, and had back-to-back nine-kill outings at LIU Post (Oct. 20) and NYIT (Oct. 21). For the season, Logan is producing 2.29 kills and 2.41 digs per set. Her 190 total kills ranks 17th in the conference, and first among all freshmen in the league.

MERCY SCOUTING REPORT
Mercy is led by third-year head coach Georga Efthalitsides. The Mercy alumnus has led the Mavericks to a 23-60 record in her tenure to date. At 13-15 overall this season, Efthalitsides has guided Mercy to its best season since going 20-12 in 2005. The Mavericks, who were picked seventh in the ECC preseason poll, have already seen a six-match improvement overall and a five-match improvement in league play over their 2017 results (7-25, 1-13 ECC). The Mavericks head into the final weekend of the regular season with a chance to qualify for the ECC Championship for the first time since 2005. Sophomore outside hitter Leilani Vasquez, a transfer from Adelphi, has paced the Mercy offense thus far, averaging 3.00 kills per set which ranks fifth in the conference. Vasquez has posted double-figure kills in 14 matches this season, including the last five in a row. Senior middle blocker Kaitlyn Partridge has also produced (2.36 kills/set, .308 hitting percentage). Senior setter Brooke Runge is averaging 8.47 assists per set, third-best in the league. Defensively, the Mavericks have been led by Neysha Gonzalez who ranks fiifth in the league with her 4.32 digs-per-set average. The Mavericks are 7-3 in their last 10 matches, and 8-2 at home this season.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. MERCY
Series Record: 9-2
Streak: Won 7
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Mercy 0 | Oct. 6, 2018 | Amherst, N.Y.

BRIDGEPORT SCOUTING REPORT
Bridgeport is led by head coach Gary Mullin who is in his fifth season at the helm. He has led the program to 92-52 record to date. The Purple Knights were picked fourth in the ECC preseason poll, and they return nine players from their 2017 team that went 12-16 overall and 8-6 in league play. Senior setter Ellie Rich (9.42 assists/set in 2017) and sophomore defensive specialist Olivia Storaci (3.95 digs/set in 2017) headline the team's returners. The Purple Knights opened the season with 10 wins in their first 15 contests, but are just 3-6 since Oct. 1. The Purple Knights own an 8-1 record at home this season; their eight-match home winning streak was snapped earlier this week with a 3-0 loss to the top-ranked team in the region, New Haven. Freshman middle blocker Amanda Keller has made an immediate impact as she leads the league in hitting percentage (.335) while also ranking second in blocks per set (0.85). Juniors Morgan Knight and Emily Burford lead the team by averaging 2.59 and 2.58 kills per set respectively. Junior outside hitter Galia Nankin, a transfer from Rutgers, has also been impressive thus far, averaging 1.90 kills per set. Rich is still running the offense, and she ranks fourth in the league in assists per set (8.46). Sophomore Klein Johnson has paced the UB defense, averaging 4.54 digs per set which ranks third in the ECC.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. BRIDGEPORT
Series Record: 4-7
Streak: Won 1
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Bridgeport 1 | Oct. 5, 2018 | Amherst, N.Y.

ON THE HORIZON
The top four teams in the final ECC standings will descend upon Lumsden Gymnasium for the ECC Championship tournament with the semfinals slated for Friday, Nov. 9 and the finals set for Saturday, Nov. 10.

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Players Mentioned

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

#1 Kailey Ballou: L; 5' 7"; Junior

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

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

#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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

#1 Kailey Ballou
: 5' 7"; Junior
: L

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

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

#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

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

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