Women's Volleyball 9/28/2018 11:00:00 AM By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Wildcats Visit Defending ECC Champ Molloy & Queens This Weekend

GAME INFORMATION & LINKS
Game #18
Daemen Wildcats (9-8, 3-0 ECC) vs. Molloy Lions (7-4, 2-1 ECC)
Saturday, Sept. 29 | 12 p.m.
Rockville Centre, N.Y. | Quealy Gymnasium

LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO

Game #19
Daemen Wildcats (9-8, 3-0 ECC) vs. Queens Knights (1-11, 0-3 ECC)
Sunday, Sept. 30 | 12 PM
Flushign, N.Y. | Fizgerald Gymnasium

LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO

THE SERVE
Daemen puts its unblemished East Coast Conference record on this line this weekend in their first road trip of the league season. The weekend opens with Daemen visiting defending ECC champion Molloy. On Sunday, the Wildcats take on Queens. After some early season struggles, the Wildcats have righted the ship by winning seven of their last nine matches.

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 ed 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.

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 (2.84), Jenn Heritz (2.76), Meghan Ballou (2.73), Cristina Apostol (2.49), Sam Logan (2.24) and Allison Post (2.09). Five of the six players rank in the top 15 in the league, while Peters, Heritz and Ballou also rank in the top 10. Only defending ECC champion Molloy boasts as many as four players averaging better than 2.0 kills per set, and no other ECC team has more than three. As a team, Daemen leads the league and ranks 56th nationally by averaging 13.28 kills per set.

THRUWAY RIVALRY
Daemen's 3-1 win over longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan on Sept. 12 ran their winning streak in the all-time series to seven straight. Tirzah Peters led a balanced offensive attack with 14 kills, while Cristina Apostol (13 kills), Sam Logan (12 kills) and Meghan Ballou (12 kills) also contributed. Freshman setter Isa McCaffrey recorded a career-best 55 assists. The win also got Daemen off to a 1-0 start in ECC play for the fourth consecutive season.

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 cope with the loss of Jenn Heritz who has been out with an injury. For the season, Ballou ranks among the league leaders in total kills (150 - 4th), total attacks (414 - 5th) and kills per set (2.73 - 9th).

UPPER TIRZAH
Sophomore middle hitter Tirzah Peters has made an early case to be considered the ECC's most improved player this season. After being slowed by injuries as a freshman, resulting in just 16 matches played, Peters has been a consistent force in 2018. She presently ranks among the league leaders in total kills (159 - 3rd) and kills per set (2.84 - 6th). Her .294 hitting percentage leads the team and ranks sixth in the conference. Peters has reached double figure kills in nine 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. She was the first Daemen player to earn ECC Player of the Week honors since Amber Drzymala did so in the final week of the 2016 regular season.

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 648 assists, a total which presently leads the ECC and ranks 13th nationally. McCaffrey (10.80 assists/set) and Molloy's Sophia Smith (10.70) are the only players in the league to be averaging better than 10.0 assists per set. The last Daemen player to average better than 10.0 assists per set for an entire season was Kristie Martzolf (11.99) during the 2004 season. McCaffrey has garnered honors from the ECC in the last four successive weeks. She was named the ECC Rookie of the Week for Aug. 27-Sept. 2 after also being named to the All-Tournament Team at the Hall of Fame City Challenge. She was later named the ECC Setter of the Week for Sept. 3-9, Sept. 10-16 and Sept. 17-23.

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 16 of the team's 17 matches while making seven starts so far this season. She's hitting .283 and contributing 1.73 kills per set.

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 fourth in the ECC by averaging 16.45 digs per set. Ballou, the team's lone senior, is closing in on reaching 900 digs for her career (866 presently). Both Greenwood and Wicker have spent time as the Wildcats' primary libero. Greenwood leads the team and ranks fifth in the league with her 4.13 digs-per-set average, while Wicker is contributing 2.83 digs per set.

MOLLOY SCOUTING REPORT
Molloy is led by head coach Kevin DesLauriers who is in his second season with the program after a three-year stint as the head coach at Dowling, a former member of the ECC. After taking over a team that went 6-24 in 2016, DesLauriers led a remarkable turnaround as the Lions finished 26-6 overall and captured their first ECC championship and NCAA Tournament berth. DesLauriers was named the ECC, East Region and NCAA Division II Coach of the Year, with the latter two accolades coming from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. With 12 players returning, the Lions were picked to repeat as league champions in 2018 via the league's preseason poll. Sophomore middle hitter Kacey Affrunti, redshirt junior outside hitter Carly Banks and junior setter Sophia Smith headline the team's returners. Affrunti earned ECC Rookie of the Year and first team All-ECC honors in 2017 after averaging 2.95 kills per set on a .268 hitting percentage, both of which ranked seventh among the league leaders. Banks, who finished third in the league by averaging 3.91 kills per set, was also a first team All-ECC selection. Smith led the league in assists per set (10.89) and was a second team All-ECC honoree. The trio is performing at a high level again this season; Affrunti ranks second in kills per set (3.41) and third in hitting percentage (.336); Banks ranks fourth in kills per set (3.08); and Smith is one of only two players in the league to be averaging better than 10 assists per set (10.70). The Lions have opened the season with seven wins in their first 11 contests. Their early season success includes a 3-1 defeat of defending Northeast-10 Conference and East Region champion New Haven. A 3-0 loss to Bridgeport on Sept. 21 snapped Molloy's nine-match winning streak in regular season ECC contests. Before that, they're last ECC loss came Oct. 13, 2017 against Daemen.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. MOLLOY
Series Record: 8-3
Streak: Lost 1
Last Meeting: Molloy 3, Daemen 0 | Nov. 12, 2017 | Rockville Centre, N.Y.

QUEENS SCOUTING REPORT
Queens is under the direction of first-year head coach Kevin Cook who was hired after one-year stint as an assistant coach at Tennessee. Cook inherited a team that returns just five players off a 2017 team that went 7-17 overall and 4-10 in league play. Senior outside hitter Leeks Hollis (1.97 kills per set in 2017), junior middle/right side hitter Lauren Kehoe (1.87 kills per set) and sophomore middle blocker Briana Green (1.79 kills per set) headline the team's returners. The Knights were picked sixth in the ECC preseason poll. After opening the season with nine consecutive losses, the Knights jumped into the win column with a 3-1 non-conference victory over Concordia on Sept. 18. Queens is coming off back-to-back losses to Mercy and Bridgeport last weekend, and the Knights will face Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday before matching up with Daemen to close out the weekend. Hollis is again pacing the offense with 1.86 kills per set. All 11 of QC's losses this season have been by 3-0 scores.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. QUEENS
Series Record: 6-4
Streak: Lost 1
Last Meeting: Queens 3, Daemen 2 | Nov. 11, 2017 | Flushing, N.Y.

DID YOU KNOW?
* Daemen is 3-0 in East Coast Conference play for the third time since joining the league in 2013. They've previously started 3-0 in both the 2015 and 2017 seasons. The Wildcats have never started 4-0.
* Daemen is 50-27 in all regional matches since the start of the 2016 season; that includes a 16-7 mark in regular season, non-conference regional matches.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium where they'll host Bridgeport (Oct. 5) and Mercy (Oct. 6) next weekend.

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Players Mentioned

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

#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

Players Mentioned

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

#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