MATCH INFORMATION & LINKS
Game #24
Daemen Wildcats (14-9, 4-4 ECC) vs. Gannon Golden Knights (21-5, 13-1 PSAC)
Wednesday, Nov. 6 | 7 p.m.
Erie, Pa. | Hammermill Center
Live Stats
Live Streaming Video (via Stretch Internet)
THE SERVE
Daemen makes the short trek to Erie, Pa. to face regional power Gannon University in a non-conference match. Daemen is just 3-4 over its last seven matches and is coming off a weekend split with Queens (W, 3-0) and Mercy (L, 3-0). The Golden Knights have won six-straight matches and have now reached 20 wins for the 11th-straight season. GU improved to 21-5 overall and 13-1 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play following a 3-0 win over Seton Hill this past Saturday.
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 71-44 overall record, a 37-13 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 eight players are averaging at least 1.0 kill per set. Five players have recorded at least 10 kills in a match this season. Led by junior Allison Post (206 kills, 2.78 kills/set), junior Jenn Heritz (185 kills, 2.34 kills/set) and sophomore Sam Logan (168 kills, 2.33 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 (2.06 kills/set) and Courtney Bernard (1.81 kills/set) are among the most efficient hitters in the league. Ballou is attacking a .316 clip, ranking third among the league leaders. Bernard ranks fifth with a .284 hitting percentage, and she powered down a career-high 17 kills against Molloy on Oct. 25.
SETTING THE TABLE
Sophomore setter Hannah McKee has come on of late to lead the Wildcats' setters. She's averaged 10.92 assists per set over her last seven matches, topping 25 total assists six times in 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 third among the ECC leaders in assists per set (8.39). 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 51 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 354 digs over the first 23 matches. She currently ranks third in digs per set (4.37) and 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 48 of the last 56 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 78 career matches, the junior defensive specialist has totaled 1,096 digs, good for a 3.93 digs-per-set average.
GANNON SCOUTING REPORT
Gannon is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The Golden Knights are led by head coach Matt Darling who is in his 13th season and has engineered a string of 11-straight 20-win seasons and 10-straight NCAA tournament berths. Gannon has posted over 30 wins in each of the last three seasons and last year finished 31-3. The Golden Knights went 32-7 in 2017 en route to an appearance in the national semifinals. Gannon brings a six-match winning streak into Wednesday's match with Daemen. Ally Smith (Sr., OH), Ashley McClung (So., S/RSH) and Ashley Kerestes (Jr., MB) have paced the Golden Knights. Smith has posted double digit kills in each of her last six matches and leads the team in kills per set (2.92) and service aces (39). McClung ranks third in both kills per set (2.67) and total blocks (58), while Kerestes is contributing 2.48 kills per set and has totaled a team-high 86 blocks. Senior outside hitter Toni Leitshuh has also produced (446 digs, 73 asts, 33 aces), while junior setter Ashley Beyers is dishing out a team-high 10.89 assists per set.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. GANNON
Series Record: 1-10
Streak: Lost 10
Last Meeting: Gannon 3, Daemen 0 | Aug. 25, 2018 | at Amherst, N.Y.
ON THE HORIZON
Daemen returns to conference play when it host the University of Bridgeport in an East Coast Conference match.
