ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. - Third-seeded Daemen College suffered a 3-1 loss to second-seeded University of Bridgeport here tonight during the semifinals of the 2019 East Coast Conference Women's Volleyball Championship. Bridgeport improved to 24-6 with the win and advances to face top-seeded and tournament host Molloy College in the championship match tomorrow. Molloy advanced to the finals with a 3-0 win over fourth-seeded Mercy College. Daemen, the defending ECC Tournament champion, closes out the year with a 16-12 record.

Daemen opened the match with a 25-19 win in set one, before the Purple Knights outlasted the Wildcats in sets two (25-19), three (25-20) and four (28-26) to claim the match. It marked UB's third victory over Daemen this season. The Purple Knights posted a 3-0 win in Bridgeport and a 3-2 win at DC's Lumsden Gymnasium 12 days ago.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Set one was tied at 8-8 when the Wildcats put together an 8-3 run that gave Daemen a 16-11 lead. The Purple Knights scored the next point to make it 16-12, but Daemen answered with four unanswered points and took its largest lead of the set, 20-12, following a UB ball handling error. The Daemen lead was still eight points, 23-15, when the Purple Knights put together one last rally and cut the lead to five points, 24-19. A UB attack error gave Daemen the 25-19 win.
• An 11-1 run by Bridgeport turned out to be the difference in set two. Daemen took a 9-5 lead following a kill by junior Allison Post (Windsor, Calif.), but the Purple Knights regrouped following a time out and put together the decisive 11-1 run. Nine of the 11 points during the run came as a result of a Daemen error. UB held a 16-10 lead following the run and the Wildcats came no closer than five points (23-18) the rest of the way.
• Bridgeport jumped out to a 6-1 lead in set three and maintained the lead throughout. Daemen cut the lead to three points twice after that, the second time at 12-9, but UB responded with a 6-2 run and opened up an 18-11 lead. The teams traded points the rest of the set and Bridgeport went on to a 25-20 win.
• Daemen erased a 13-10 deficit in set four and took a 19-14 lead following a 9-1 run. UB scored the next four points and later took a 21-20 lead following back-to-back service aces by sophomore Carly Killorin. Daemen later had set points at 24-23, 25-24 and 26-25, but the Wildcats could not secure the winning point. UB closed out the set and the match with three unanswered points for a 28-26 win.
• Sophomore Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) paced a balanced Daemen attack with 15 kills, while Post and fellow junior Jenn Heritz (Granger, Ind.) each registered 14 kills. Post also contributed 12 digs.
• Sophomore Hannah McKee (East Highland, Calf.) handed out 48 assists and also chipped in eight digs, while junior Georgia Wicker (Woodstock, Ill.) recorded a team-high 26 digs. Junior Ali Greenwood (North Aurora, Ill.) helped the Daemen defensive effort with 13 digs.
• Seniors Courtney Bernard (Lancaster, Ohio) and Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y.), who both collected all-conference honors earlier today, closed out their four-year careers tonight. Bernard totaled nine kills, while Ballou added four kills and two blocks.
• Ballou appeared in 114 of a possible 120 matches over her four-year career and has led the Wildcats to a 73-47 record over that stretch. She totaled 912 kills, 498 digs and 164 blocks over her career. Bernard, who sat out the 2017 season recovering from injury, has appeared in 94 of a possible 122 matches over her four-year career. She totaled 567 career kills and 158 career blocks.
• Sophomore Amanda Keller totaled 12 kills and four blocks for Bridgeport, while senior Morgan Knight added 11 kills. Killorin finished with five service aces and also dished out 17 assists, while senior Amanda Hennemann registered a team-high 21 digs. 

HEAD COACH STEPHANIE ALBANO POST-GAME COMMENTS
"Tough to end the season with a loss, however the grit we showed was impressive. We battled and fought until the end. We will miss our seniors Meg and Courtney, and we thank them for their dedication to the program."

GAME NOTES

• Daemen held a 60-46 advantage in total kills, but the Wildcats committed 32 attack errors—compared to just 14 attack errors for UB. The Wildcats also held an advantage in total assists (56-42) and total digs (78-57), while the Purple Knights posted a 10-5 edge in total blocks.
• Daemen was making its third appearance in the ECC Tournament over the past four years.
• Post and Heritz both finished with a team-high 241 kills for the year. McKee finished as the team-leader in assists (528), while Logan registered a team-high 33 service aces. Greenwood led the team in digs (404), while Heritz and junior Tirzah Peters (Amherst, N.Y.) both recorded a team-high 50 blocks.
  
  
  Daemen College features the only NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.