Peters, McCaffrey Snag ECC Weekly Accolades

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Women's Volleyball | 9/10/2018 4:45:00 PM

AMHERST, N.Y. - Tirzah Peters (Amherst, N.Y.) and Isa McCaffrey (North Royalton, Ohio) of the Daemen College women's volleyball team have each earned weekly honors from the East Coast Conference for matches played September 3-9. Peters has been named the ECC Player of the Week, while McCaffrey earned ECC Setter of the Week honors. The official announcement was made via the league's weekly sport report which was released this afternoon from conference headquarters in West Babylon, N.Y.

Together, Peters and McCaffrey played starring roles in helping Daemen to a 3-1 record at last weekend's Post Eagles Invitational. After opening the tournament with a gut-wrenching five set loss to regional rival Le Moyne College, the Wildcats responded with consecutive 3-0 victories over Bentley University, Caldwell University and Post University. The results from this past weekend push Daemen's overall record to 5-6.

Peters, a 6-foot sophomore middle hitter, totaled 41 kills and seven blocks over the four matches. She led the team by averaging 3.73 kills per set on a .508 hitting percentage. Peters played her best during the three Wildcat victories, notching 37 kills on a .577 hitting percentage. She matched her career-high with 13 kills in the win over Bentley, then surpassed that mark with 15 kills in the win over defending Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference champion Caldwell. In the tournament finale against Post, she contributed nine kills and a season-high four blocks.

For the season, Peters ranks second on the team with 94 total kills, and her 2.76 kills per set is tied for the team lead with classmate Jenn Heritz (Granger, Ind.). The duo ranks sixth among all ECC players in kills per set. She also leads the team and ranks fifth in the conference with 20 blocks. Peter is the first Daemen player to earn ECC Player of the Week honors since 2017 graduate Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y.) did so in the final week of the 2016 regular season.

McCaffrey, the team's 5-foot-8 freshman setter, totaled 152 assists over four matches last weekend, good for a 10.86 assists-per-set average. She opened the tournament by recording 41 assists in the five-set loss to Le Moyne, her third match this season with at least 40. She went on to register 35 assists in the win over Bentley, and 38 assists in the wins over Caldwell and Post. She's now posted at least 30 assists in nine of her first 11 matches as a collegian.

It's the second straight week that McCaffrey has garnered attention from the conference office. She was named the ECC Rookie of the Week for the period of August 27 through September 2 after averaging 10.46 assists per set in four matches at the Hall of Fame City Challenge hosted by Malone University. McCaffrey is the first Daemen player to earn ECC Setter of the Week honors since Bailey Dologowski (Depew, N.Y.) did so in the second-to-last week of the 2016 regular season.

For the season, McCaffrey has totaled 381 assists and is averaging 10.30 assists per set. She leads the ECC in total assists, and ranks second among the conference leaders in assists per set. Among all ECC players, only McCaffrey and Molloy College's Sophia Smith are averaging better than 10 assists per set.

Peters, McCaffrey and the rest of the Wildcats return to action this Wednesday, September 12 when they'll host rival Roberts Wesleyan College in both teams' first ECC contest of the 2018 season. The Wildcats also play neutral site, non-conference matches vs. Urbana University (Friday, Sept. 14) and Franklin Pierce University (Saturday, Sept. 15) this week.

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Players Mentioned

#13 Amber Drzymala: OH; 5' 9"; Senior

#5 Jenn Heritz: MH; 6' 0"; Freshman

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

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

Players Mentioned

#13 Amber Drzymala
: 5' 9"; Senior
: OH

#5 Jenn Heritz
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: MH

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

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