Matchups Announced For Daemen Volleyball Invitational

Wildcats Set To Host Two-Day Tournament At 2019 Season Outset

5/28/2019 4:40:00 PM

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's volleyball team will open the 2019 season by hosting the Daemen Volleyball Invitational presented by Millennium Buffalo on Friday, September 6 and Saturday, September 7 at Lumsden Gymnasium, head coach Stephanie Albano announced today. The tournament features four NCAA Division II teams and six total contests.

"We are very excited to open the season at home," said Albano, a two-time East Coast Conference Coach of the Year recipient. "The tournament field is competitive and will challenge us early. This tournament will help us prepare for our goal of competing in the NCAA tournament again."

Tournament play gets underway at 3:30 p.m. on September 6 with Urbana University taking on Mercyhurst University, followed by the nightcap (6 p.m.) as Daemen matches up with Ursuline College out of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Daemen has posted four consecutive wins and owns a 15-3 all-time record against Ursuline. The Wildcats and Arrows will be meeting for the first time since 2017. Ursuline posted a 12-17 overall record last fall.

The tournament resumes at 11 a.m. on September 7 as Mercyhurst locks up with Ursuline. Daemen battles Urbana at 1 p.m. as the teams meet for just the fifth time in their history. Urbana, which went 21-12 overall and 10-6 in the Mountain East Conference, snuck away with a 3-2 win over the Wildcats last September - the teams' first meeting since 2006.

Urbana goes back-to-back with a 3 p.m. match vs. Ursuline, and the tournament concludes when Daemen meets Mercyhurst at 5:30 p.m. That will mark the first contest between the Wildcats and Lakers since 2012. Daemen has won two of the last three meetings in a series that dates back to 1997. The Lakers are coming off a 10-21 campaign last season, including a 5-13 mark in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

Daemen is returning nine players from their 2018 team which posted a 21-11 overall record and a 13-1 mark in East Coast Conference play en route to the ECC regular season and tournament titles, as well as the program's second NCAA tournament berth. Returning players include ECC Co-Setter of the Year Isa McCaffrey (North Royalton, Ohio), first-team All-ECC middle hitter Tirzah Peters (Amherst, N.Y.), two-time second-team All-ECC honoree Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y.) and starting libero Ali Greenwood (North Aurora, Ill.) who was recently named the team's MVP.

Six newcomers will join the mix as well. They include freshmen Loren Alberts (Huntley, Ill.), Lexi Prokopius (Independence, Ohio), Shelby Kersten (Alden, N.Y.), Mickaley Monahan (Saline, Mich.) and Lexi Todd (Kaysville, Utah), as well as sophomore transfer Hannah McKee (East Highland, Calif.).

The remainder of Daemen's 2019 schedule will be announced at a later date.

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