Ballou & McCaffrey Earn ECC Weekly Awards

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

Women's Volleyball | 9/17/2018 3:59:00 PM

AMHERST, N.Y. - Meghan Ballou (Eden, 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 10-16. Ballou 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.

Ballou and McCaffrey played integral roles in leading Daemen to a 2-1record last week. The Wildcats (7-7, 1-0 ECC) sandwiched victories over Roberts Wesleyan College (3-1) and Franklin Pierce University (3-0) around a five-set loss to surging Urbana University. The win over Roberts Wesleyan came in the Wildcats' first ECC contest of the 2018 season, and it extended their winning streak over their longtime rivals from Rochester to seven in a row.

Ballou, a 6-foot junior outside/middle hitter, had her most productive week of the season as she totaled 43 kills, good for a team-best 3.58 kills-per-set average, while posting a .257 hitting percentage. Ballou's production came at a critical time as she moved to the outside to help the Wildcats cope with the loss of leading hitter Jenn Heritz (Granger, Ind.) who missed last week's matches with an injury.

Ballou, a second team All-ECC selection last season, opened the week with 12 kills on 28 attempts in the win over RWC. She followed up with a season-high 17 kills in the loss to Urbana, two shy of her career-best effort. She ended the week with 14 kills in the win over Franklin Pierce, a victory that upped Daemen's record to 48-26 in all regional matches since the start of the 2016 season.

For the season, Ballou ranks second on the team and fourth in the league with 113 total kills. Her 2.57 kills-per-set average ranks 11th among all ECC players.

The announcement today marked the second ECC weekly honor in Ballou's career. She was previously named the ECC Rookie of the Week for October 3-9, 2016.

McCaffrey, the team's 5-foot-8 freshman setter, totaled 137 assists over the three matches last week, good for an 11.42 assists-per-set average. She opened the week by recording a career-high 55 assists in the win over RWC, and went on to total 38 and 44 assists against Urbana and Franklin Pierce, respectively. She added 10 digs against Franklin Pierce to record the second double-double of her career.

It's the third straight week that McCaffrey has garnered attention from the conference office. She was named the ECC Setter of the Week for September 3-9, and the ECC Rookie of the Week for the period of August 27 through September 2. McCaffrey is the first Daemen player to earn multiple ECC Setter of the Week honors since Bailey Dologowski (Depew, N.Y.) in 2016.

For the season, McCaffrey has totaled 518 assists and is averaging 10.57 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.

Ballou, McCaffrey and the rest of the Wildcats return to action this weekend with an important three-match home-stand as N.Y. Institute of Technology (Sept. 21), Long Island University Post (Sept. 22) and the University of New Haven (Sept. 23) all come to Lumsden Gymnasium on successive days. The trio of opponents combined to go 79-23 in 2017.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

#2 Meghan Ballou

#5 Jenn Heritz

#11 Isa McCaffrey

Players Mentioned

#2 Meghan Ballou

#5 Jenn Heritz

#11 Isa McCaffrey