MATCH INFORMATION & LINKS
Game #27
Daemen Wildcats (15-11, 4-5 ECC) vs. Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks (2-21, 2-7 ECC)
Saturday, Nov. 16 | 12 p.m.
Rochester, N.Y. | Voller Athletic Center
Live Stats
Live Streaming Video (via ECC Network)

THE SERVE
Daemen closes out the regular season Saturday (Nov. 16) when it travels to longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan College for an East Coast Conference match. The Wildcats have already secured a spot in the four-team ECC Championship Tournament, which will be hosted by top-seeded Molloy College Nov. 22-23. Daemen snapped a three-match losing streak following a 3-1 win over Le Moyne this past Wednesday. RWC is playing its first match since suffer a 3-0 loss to Bridgeport last weekend. Daemen has prevailed in the last nine matches between the two rivals and the Wildcats are looking to sweep the season series for the fifth-straight year.

ALL ABOUT ALBANO
Since taking the reins of the program in 2016, Stephanie Albano has built the Wildcats into one of the top teams in the East Coast Conference and NCAA Division II East Region. She's guided the program to a 72-46 overall record, a 37-14 mark in conference play, two ECC regular season championships, two NCAA tournament berths and an ECC tournament crown. Albano is a two-time ECC Coach of the Year, the 2016 NCAA Division II East Region Coach of the Year and past recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association 30 Under 30 Award. Albano's ascent into coaching came after a stellar prep and collegiate playing career. She was named the Gatorade New York State Player of the Year following her senior season at Lancaster High School, and went on play collegiately at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Before becoming Daemen's associate head coach in 2015, Albano held assistant coaching positions at Canisius, Medaille and Buffalo.

MAGICAL YEAR
The 2018 season was one for the ages as the Wildcats posted a 21-11 overall record, the 11th 20-win season in program history and their second as an NCAA Division II team. It included a run to the program's second ECC regular season championship as the Wildcats went 13-1 in conference play. Daemen opened the conference slate with nine straight wins. A 3-2 setback at New York Tech on Oct. 21 snapped the streak, but the Wildcats responded with four consecutive wins to close the regular season. They clinched the outright regular season league championship with a 3-2 win at Mercy on Nov. 3, an accomplishment that included the No. 1 seed and hosting rights for the ECC tournament. After falling short of the ECC tournament crown in 2016, the Wildcats sealed the deal this time around, defeating No. 4 Bridgeport (3-1) and No. 2 Molloy (3-1) at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats earned the No. 3 seed in the East Region Championship portion of the NCAA tournament, but their magical season came to an end following a 3-0 loss to eventual regional champion American International.

LIFE IN THE BALANCE
The Wildcats featured a balanced offensive attack in 2018 with six players averaging better than 2.0 kills per set. Five of those players return to the roster in 2019, and balance has again been a staple for the Wildcats as nine players are averaging at least 1.0 kill per set. Eight players have recorded at least 10 kills in a match this season. Led by junior Allison Post (223 kills, 2.86 kills/set), junior Jenn Heritz (216 kills, 2.37 kills/set) and sophomore Sam Logan (173 kills, 2.08 kills/set), the Wildcats boast three of the top 12 hitters in the ECC, in terms of kills per set. Although their kill numbers are slightly down from last season, seniors Meghan Ballou (2.05 kills/set) and Courtney Bernard (1.93 kills/set) are among the most efficient hitters in the league. Ballou is attacking a .312 clip, ranking third among the league leaders. Bernard ranks sixth with a .278 hitting percentage, and she powered down 16 kills in the win over Le Moyne. Redshirt-freshman Ali Cousins has come on of late as well. She has posted double-digit kills in two of the last four matches, and totaled a career-high 11 kills vs. Mercy on Nov. 3.

SETTING THE TABLE
Sophomore setter Hannah McKee has come on of late to lead the Wildcats' setters. She has totaled 25 or more assists in eight of her last 10 matches and has averaged 10.34 assists per set over that span. McKee, who is in her first season with the Wildcats after transferring last spring from St. Martin's (Wash.), recorded a career-best 58 assists is a five-set loss to Molloy on Oct. 25. She currently ranks second among the ECC leaders in assists per set (8.55). Daemen's setting group also includes sophomore Isa McCaffrey, the 2018 ECC Co-Setter of the Year who recorded a league-best 1,097 assists last season. She became just the seventh player in team history to reach 1,000 in a single season. McCaffrey has posted at least 10 assists in 46 of 52 career matches, and she recently surpassed Chelsea Turcer for 10th place on Daemen's all-time assists list. Junior Georgia Wicker has also also seen action. She recorded 10+ assists in nine of the first 13 matches this season.

GETTING GREENY
With so much of the attention focused on Daemen's balanced offense in 2018, Ali Greenwood flew a bit under the radar as she anchored the Wildcat defense as its libero. Her contributions didn't go unnoticed by coaches and teammates however, and she was named the team's MVP after recording 507 digs, third-best among all ECC players. She has already set the tone again defensively in 2019, totaling a team-high 388 digs over the first 26 matches. She currently ranks third in digs per set (4.18) and fourth in total digs among the ECC leaders. Her performance at the season-opening Daemen Volleyball Invitational led to a selection on the all-tournament team as well as her first of two ECC Defensive Player of the Week honors this season. Greenwood has recorded 10+ digs in 49 of the last 58 matches dating back to her freshmen season. She posted 32 digs in Daemen's five-set win over Urbana earlier this season, one shy of her career-high. Greenwood recorded the 1,000th dig of her career in a 3-0 loss at Bridgeport on Oct. 12. In 81 career matches, the junior defensive specialist has totaled 1,130 digs, good for a 3.88 digs-per-set average.age.

ROBERTS WESLEYAN SCOUTING REPORT
Roberts Wesleyan snapped a seven-match losing streak following a 3-2 win at Queens on Nov.3 and is coming off a 3-0 loss to Bridgeport last weekend. Of their 21 losses this season, 16 have come by 3-0 scores including a 3-0 loss at Daemen on Oct. 16. The RWC roster features eight returning players from their 2018 team that went 6-18 overall and 4-10 in ECC play. That group is headlined by senior middle hitter Anastasia Smith and senior defensive specialist Rachel Holmes. Smith is averaging a team-best 1.75 kills per set. She also leads the team in total blocks (54) and hitting percentage (.290). Smith was named the ECC Player of the Week for Sept. 30-Oct. 6 after posting a season-high 18 kills in the win over Queens. Holmes ranks among the top-five ECC leaders in total digs (360 - 6th) and digs per set (4.56 - 2nd).

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. ROBERTS WESLEYAN
Series Record: 28-20
Streak: Won 9
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Roberts Wesleyan 0 | Oct. 16, 2019 | at Amherst, N.Y.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen is idle until next weekend (Nov. 22-23) when it takes part in the ECC Championship Tournament hosted by Molloy College.