MATCH INFORMATION & LINKS
Game #25
Daemen Wildcats (14-10, 4-4 ECC) vs. Bridgeport Purple Knights (21-6, 6-2 ECC)
Sunday, Nov. 10 | 12 p.m.
Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
Live Stats
Live Streaming Video (via ECC Network)
THE SERVE
Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium to face Bridgeport in a key late-season East Coast Conference contest. The Wildcats are looking to right the ship after falling in four of their last five matches, including a 3-0 loss at highly-touted Gannon earlier this week. Despite the results of late, Daemen is still in position to clinch a berth to the ECC Championships, and can do so with a win over Bridgeport, or a Bridgeport win over Roberts Wesleyan in Rochester on Saturday. The Purple Knights enter the weekend having won six of their last eight matches, and their only ECC setbacks thus far have come against regular-season champion Molloy.
SENIOR SALUTE
Sunday's match will mark Daemen's annual Senior Day celebration as graduating players Courtney Bernard and Meghan Ballou will be honored in a pre-match ceremony. The duo has played a key role in cementing Daemen as one of the top programs in the East Coast Conference, leading the Wildcats to a 71-45 overall record and a 37-13 in conference play over the last four seasons. Bernard, whose career began in 2015, has appeared in 90 matches and totaled 519 kills, 153 blocks and a .271 hitting percentage. Ballou has been a two-time All-ECC selection, appearing in 111 matches and totaling 890 kills, 487 digs and 161 blocks.
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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 71-45 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 (195 kills, 2.38 kills/set) and sophomore Sam Logan (168 kills, 2.27 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 (1.78 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 seventh with a .265 hitting percentage, and she powered down a career-high 17 kills against Molloy on Oct. 25. Redshirt-freshman Ali Cousins has come on of late as well. She's averaging 2.75 kills per set over 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's averaged 9.06 assists per set over her last 10 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 fourth among the ECC leaders in assists per set (8.14). 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 363 digs over the first 24 matches. She currently ranks third in digs per set (4.32) 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 79 career matches, the junior defensive specialist has totaled 1,105 digs, good for a 3.92 digs-per-set average.
BRIDGEPORT SCOUTING REPORT
Bridgeport heads into the weekend with 21 wins in 27 contests so far this season, already eclipsing their win total from all of 2018 when they went 14-13. Head coach Gary Mullin, now in his sixth season with the program, has led the Purple Knights to a 114-60 record to date. He recorded his 100th win earlier this season when UB downed Bentley on Sept. 17. The Purple Knights feature a veteran roster with 11 returning players from 2018, and just two freshmen. Four players averaging better than 2.3 kills per set, led by senior outside hitter Amanda Hennemann. The Brazilian native ranks second in total kills (294) and third in kills per set (3.27) among the ECC leaders. Senior right-side hitter Emily Burford, a second-team All-ECC pick last season, is contributing 2.57 kills per set. Sophomore middle blocker Amanda Keller leads the ECC in hitting percentage (.386) and is averaging 2.41 kills and 0.69 blocks per set. Sophomore setter Carly Killorin is running the ECC's top offense, and is averaging 8.46 assists per set, second-best in the league this season. As a team, Bridgeport leads the ECC in kills per set (13.05), hitting percentage (.232), assists per set (12.16) and service aces per set (2.65).
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. BRIDGEPORT
Series Record: 6-8
Streak: Lost 1
Last Meeting: Bridgeport 3, Daemen 0 | Oct. 12, 2019 | at Bridgeport, Conn.
ON THE HORIZON
Daemen plays two matches during the final week of the regular season. They'll host Le Moyne on Wednesday, Nov. 13, followed by their final ECC contest of the year Saturday (Nov. 16) at Roberts Wesleyan.
