Daemen Hosts ECC Volleyball Championship This Weekend

11/8/2018 10:00:00 AM | By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION & LINKS
Semifinals
Friday, Nov. 9 | Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
6 p.m. - #1 Daemen Wildcats (19-10, 13-1 ECC) vs. #4 Bridgeport Purple Knights (14-12, 8-6 ECC)
8 p.m. - #2 Molloy Lions (19-7, 11-3 ECC) vs. #3 LIU Post Pioneers (19-12, 9-5 ECC)

Finals
Saturday, Nov. 10 | Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
6 p.m. - Daemen/Bridgeport vs. Molloy/LIU Post

Game Day
LIVE STATS (all matches)
LIVE VIDEO (all matches)

THE SERVE
Daemen hosts the 2018 ECC Women's Volleyball Championship tournament this weekend as the league's top four teams vie for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats open the tournament by taking on fourth-seeded Bridgeport. Daemen swept the teams' two regular season meetings, and have won five of their last six against Bridgeport. Daemen brings a modest four-match winning streak into the conference tournament, and the Wildcats have won 17 of their last 21 matches dating back to early September. Friday's second semifinal features second-seeded Molloy and third-seeded LIU Post. The two semifinal winners will meet at 6 p.m. on Saturday in the conference championship match.

DAEMEN'S ECC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Daemen is making their second ECC Championship tournament appearance since becoming postseason eligible at the Division II level in 2015. In both instances, Daemen has been the tournament's number one seed. Daemen's prior conference tournament berth came in 2016 when they finished 13-1 during the ECC regular season. The Wildcats defeated fourth-seeded LIU Post in four sets in their conference tournament debut, but fell in four sets to second-seeded NYIT in the championship match. The Wildcats went on to earn the number two seed in the NCAA Division II East Region Championship, and advanced to the regional finals that season.

All-Time ECC Championship Record: 1-1
Streak: Lost 1
Last Match: NYIT 3, Daemen 1 | ECC Championship Finals | Nov. 19, 2016 | Amherst, N.Y.

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 two weeks ago, the Wildcats' ascended four spots thanks in part to their three-set victory on Oct. 27 over Molloy which was then 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.

Regional Poll - Nov. 7, 2018
1. New Haven
2. Adelphi
3. Daemen
4. Molloy
5. Holy Family
6. American International
7. LIU Post
8. Bridgeport
9. Pace
10. St. Anselm

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 - Allison Post (2.71), Meghan Ballou (2.67) Tirzah Peters (2.62), Jenn Heritz (2.38), Cristina Apostol (2.37), and Sam Logan (2.36). All six players rank in the top 15 in the league, while Post, Ballou and Peters 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 47th nationally by averaging 13.47 kills per set.

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 five matches, Post is contributing 4.05 kills per set on a .261 hitting percentage. She's reached double-figure kills in all five matches, the longest such streak of her career. 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. In the regular season finales, she recorded back-to-back doubles with 17 kills and 14 digs vs. Mercy, and 10 kills and 14 digs vs. Bridgeport. 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.

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 17 matches. For the season, Ballou ranks among the league leaders in total kills (246 - 9th), total attacks (699 - 7th) and kills per set (2.67 - 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 (254 - 8th) and kills per set (2.62 - 9th). Her .296 hitting percentage leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference. 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 2.37 kills per set on a .265 hitting percentage, and she leads the team with 52 blocks. She ranks among the league leaders in the total kills (220 - 12th), kills per set (14th), hitting percentage (7th), and total blocks (13th).

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 1,048 assists, a total which presently leads the ECC and ranks 58th 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 (10.17 assists/set) and Molloy's Sophia Smith (10.20) are the only players in the league to be averaging better than 10.0 assists per set, and McCaffrey ranks 63rd 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 seven times this season. She was named the ECC Rookie of the Week for Aug. 27-Sept. 2, Oct. 1-7 and Oct. 22-28. 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 28 of the team's 29 matches while making 11 starts so far this season. She's hitting .274 and contributing 1.72 kills per set. Bernard notched a season-high 12 kills in Daemen's 3-1 win over Roberts Wesleyan on Oct. 12. She has established new career-highs for sets played (85), attack attempts (350) and digs (45).

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, recently surpassed 900 digs for her career. Both Greenwood and Wicker have spent time as the Wildcats' primary libero. Greenwood leads the team and ranks fourth in the league with her 4.41 digs-per-set average, She was named the ECC Defensive Player of the Week for Oct. 15-21 and Oct. 22-28. Wicker is contributing 2.83 digs per set, and has seen some time at the setting position recently, notching double-figure assists in each of the last four matches.

COMING OF AGE
Freshman outside hitter Sam Logan has averaged 2.42 kills per set over the last 11 matches, dating back to Sept. 30. She totaled at least eight kills in eight of those matches, including a career-best 17 in Daemen's 3-2 win over Mercy on Nov. 3. She has also contributed defensively, totaling 221 digs this season which ranks third on the team. For the season, For the season, Logan is producing 2.36 kills and 2.43 digs per set. Her 215 total kills ranks 15th in the conference, and first among all freshmen in the league.

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 93-53 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 4-7 since Oct. 1. Freshman middle blocker Amanda Keller has made an immediate impact as she leads the league in hitting percentage (.348) while also ranking second in blocks per set (0.83). Juniors Morgan Knight and Emily Burford lead the team by averaging 2.58 and 2.52 kills per set respectively. Junior outside hitter Galia Nankin, a transfer from Rutgers, has also been impressive thus far, averaging 1.81 kills per set. Rich is still running the offense, and she ranks fourth in the league in assists per set (8.29). Sophomore Klein Johnson has paced the UB defense, averaging 4.45 digs per set which ranks third in the ECC.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. BRIDGEPORT
Series Record: 5-7
Streak: Won 2
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Bridgeport 0 | Nov. 4, 2018 | Bridgeport, Conn.

ON THE HORIZON
A win in Friday's semifinal match would put the Wildcats into the tournament finals for the second time in the last three seasons. If they do not advance to the finals, the Wildcats will turn their attention to the NCAA Tournament Selection Show which is slated for Sunday, Nov. 11 at 10 p.m. All NCAA tournament bids will be announced at that time.

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