CALIFORNIA, Pa. - The Daemen College women's volleyball team opened the Cal Vulcan Invitational with a 3-2 loss (25-13, 16-25, 27-25, 17-25, 13-15) to West Liberty University this afternoon at Hamer Hall. It marks the Wildcats' second straight grueling five-set defeat as they move to 2-2 on the season. West Liberty, a member of the Mountain East Conference, improved to 2-3. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Daemen took the opening set in dominating fashion (25-13), out-hitting the Hilltoppers .304 to -.118 in the period. 
• The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead in the match following a 27-25 win in the third set, but WLU came back to hit .394 in the fourth, winning 25-17 to force a fifth and deciding set.
• Daemen built leads of 9-3 and 13-9 in the fifth set, but couldn't close the deal. Keyed by a pair of kills from Kirsten Bogunovich, the Hilltoppers closed on a 6-0 run to take the set and the match. 
• Freshman Alissa Dickson recorded a double-double (match-high 14 kills, 12 digs) to pace the Hilltoppers. Madison Clayton (11 kills) and Caitlin Clarke (10 kills) chipped in offensively. 
• Renee Lemke had a match-high 27 assists, and Kailee Cunningham contributed a match-high 27 digs for the Hilltoppers. 
• Daemen was led by the duo of Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) and Jenn Heritz (Granger, Ind.) who totaled 14 and 13 kills, respectively. The duo combined for a .345 hitting percentage in the match, and Logan added a team-high 15 digs
• Redshirt senior right side hitter Courtney Bernard (Lancaster, Ohio) chipped in with nine kills on a .412 hitting percentage.
• Isa McCaffrey (North Royalton, Ohio) led the Daemen setters with 25 assists.

GAME NOTES

• The match was the first of four this weekend, and two today for the Wildcats. It also marked the first-ever meeting between the Wildcats and Hilltoppers. 
• West Liberty brings back 10 players from their 2018 team that went 24-10 overall and advanced to the semifinals of the Mountain East Conference tournament. They were picked second in the MEC preseason poll.
• Daemen has now dropped consecutive matches for the first time in more than a calendar year (Sept. 1, 2018 vs. Malone & Sept. 8, 2018 vs. Le Moyne). It's also the first time Daemen has lost back-to-back five-set matches since the 2015 season (Nov. 7, 2015 vs. New York Tech, Nov. 8, 2015 vs. LIU Post). The Wildcats are just 3-9 in five-set matches since the start of the 2017 season. 
• McCaffrey has now posted 10 or more assists in 36 consecutive matches. Now with 1,194 assists in her career, she stands 78 shy of moving into the top-10 in team history. 
• Heritz has now posted 10+ kills in three straight matches, doing so for the third time in her career. 
• Logan's 14 kills were a season-high. She's now recorded back-to-back double-doubles. 

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.