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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
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apostol wvb vs st rose
1
St. Rose STR 0-1
3
Winner Daemen DAE 1-0
St. Rose STR
0-1
1
Final
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Daemen DAE
1-0
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
St. Rose STR 20 21 25 19 (1)
Daemen DAE 25 25 17 25 (3)

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

Wildcats Open 2018 Campaign With Four-Set Victory

AMHERST, N.Y. - Sophomores Tirzah Peters (Amherst, N.Y.) and Jenn Heritz (Granger, Ind.) powered down 13 kills apiece to lead the Daemen College women's volleyball team to a 3-1 victory (25-20, 25-21, 17-25, 25-19) in their 2018 season opener this evening against the College of Saint Rose at Lumsden Gymnasium. The match was played as part of the Daemen Volleyball Classic presented by Millennium Buffalo, a tournament with pre-determined matchups that features four NCAA Division II teams and six total matches over two days. 

Peters' offensive production marked a career-high as she nearly doubled her previous best effort (seven kills vs. NYIT on Nov. 4, 2017). She also chipped in defensively with a pair of blocks. Heritz, who earned team MVP honors as a freshman last season, attacked at a .281 clip tonight and added 19 digs for the first double-double of her career.

Junior Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y.) chipped in with nine kills on 21 attempts (.333 hitting percentage), and freshman Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) added eight kills and nine digs in her collegiate debut.

Freshman setter Isa McCaffrey (North Royalton, Ohio) was solid in her debut as well, posting 40 assists. Sophomore libero Georgia Wicker (Woodstock, Ill.) tossed in a game-high 24 digs to lead the Wildcats' defensive efforts.

Senior Shayna Webber (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) was the lone St. Rose player to reach double figure kills with 12. Her classmate, setter Sam Kubik (Chicago, Ill.) registered 35 assists, and junior defensive specialist Tina Ceriello (Plainview, N.Y.) added 23 digs.

Peters and Heritz combined for nine kills in the opening set, helping Daemen establish leads of 12-5, 16-9 and 19-12 which the Golden Knights never recovered from. The Wildcat lead extended to eight points (23-15) on a kill by Logan. St. Rose scored five straight point to make it interesting, but back-to-back kills by Ballou and junior Cristina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania) shut the door and gave the hosts a 1-0 lead in the match.

A 10-0 run early in the second set turned a 7-4 deficit into a 14-7 lead for the Wildcats. Logan was the Daemen server for nine of the 10 points. The Wildcats were aided by some sloppy play from the Golden Knights who committed seven errors in the spurt. Peters and Heritz accounted for three Daemen kills in the run as well. The Golden Knights responded with a run of their own, cutting the Daemen lead to 16-15. But, the Wildcats got five kills from four different players and scored eight of the next 10 points to put the Golden Knights on the brink at 24-17. A Peters kill closed out the set at 25-21, giving Daemen a 2-0 lead.

St. Rose got themselves back in contention with a strong third set. They scored six of the first seven points in the set, and went on to lead by as many as eight points en route to a 25-17 win. The Golden Knights attacked at a .297 clip in the period, compared to just .075 for the Wildcats.

Daemen would get back on track in the fourth, however. Leading 9-7, the hosts embarked on a 10-1 run to seize an insurmountable 19-8 advantage. Ballou notched a pair of kills and the Wildcats got service aces from Wicker and McCaffrey in the spurt. The Golden Knights would rally to get within four points at five different junctures late in the set, but back-to-back kills by Peters and Ballou gave the set and the match to Daemen.

The win marked Daemen's second straight in a season-opening match. The Wildcats defeated Ursuline College 3-1 in their 2017 opener.

Today's tournament action got underway with a meeting of two teams coming off 25+ win seasons. Gannon University, which advanced to the national semifinals last season, shook off a slow start to score a 3-1 victory (27-29, 25-19, 25-19, 25-19) over Lake Erie College. Alexandra Smith (Penfield, N.Y.) paced Gannon with 18 kills, while Ashley Beyers (Lanark, Ill.) totaled 36 assists and 12 digs. 

Tournament resumes Saturday with four matches on the docket. Gannon meets St. Rose in the day's opening match at 10:30 a.m. Daemen takes on Lake Erie at 1 p.m. Lake Erie goes back-to-back by facing St. Rose at 3:30 p.m. And the nightcap features Daemen and two-time defending Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Northwest Division champion Gannon at 6 p.m.

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