Wildcats Return Home To Host Daemen Volleyball Classic

Two-Day Tournament Features Five Teams & Nine Total Matches

9/19/2019 11:40:00 AM

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Daemen Volleyball Classic presented by Millennium Buffalo

Friday, Sept. 20
11:30 a.m. - Daemen Wildcats (4-3, 0-0 ECC) vs. Salem Tigers (0-11)
1:30 p.m. - Glenville State Pioneers (1-7, 0-0 MEC) vs. Wilmington Wildcats (5-3, 0-0 CACC)
4:00 p.m. - Lock Haven Bald Eagles (4-2, 0-0 PSAC) vs. Salem Tigers
6:00 p.m. - Daemen Wildcats vs. Wilmington Wildcats
8:00 p.m. - Lock Haven Bald Eagles vs. Glenville State Pioneers

Saturday, Sept. 21
11:00 a.m. - Salem Tigers vs. Wilmington Wildcats
1:00 p.m. - Daemen Wildcats vs. Glenville State Pioneers
3:00 p.m. - Lock Haven Bald Eagles vs. Wilmington Wildcats
5:00 p.m. - Daemen Wildcats vs. Lock Haven Bald Eagles

All matches played at Lumsden Gymnasium

10953

TOURNAMENT LINKS
Tournament Home Page
Live Stats (all matches)
Live Video (all matches)

THE SERVE
Daemen returns to the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium to host their second tournament of the season. Nine total matches will be played here over the course of Friday and Saturday, four of which involving the host Wildcats who will face Salem, Wilmington, Glenville State and Lock Haven. The Wildcats are coming off a split of four matches at last weekend's Cal Vulcan Invitational, a set of results that has run their season record to 4-3. Daemen brings a modest two-match winning streak into the weekend after defeating Davis & Elkins and Indiana (Pa.) last 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. Over her first three seasons, Albano has guided Daemen to a 57-35 overall record, a 33-9 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: junior outside hitter Allison Post (2.78 kills/set), senior middle blocker/right side Meghan Ballou (2.60), junior middle blocker Tirzah Peters (2.45), sophomore outside hitter Sam Logan (2.34) and junior outside hitter/right side Jenn Heritz (2.33). Post really came on strong during the second half of last season, reaching double-figure kills in six of the last eight matches. Ballou earned second-team All-ECC honors and led the team in total kills (268) for the second straight season, and she entered her final collegiate season 250 kills shy of 1,000 for her career. Peters was a first-team All-ECC pick, finishing eighth in the league in hitting percentage (.255). Logan led the team and ranked fifth in the league in total attacks (839). Heritz, who was the team's MVP in 2017, produced despite being limited to just 20 matches and 54 sets due to injury.

SETTING THE TABLE
Sophomore setter Isa McCaffrey returns after being named the ECC Co-Setter of the Year in 2018. The Ohio native recorded an ECC-best 1,097 assists last season, becoming just the seventh player in team history to reach 1,000 in a single season. McCaffrey has posted at least 10 assists in 39 consecutive matches, and stands 29 assists shy of moving into the top-10 in team history. She'll get help running the offense from veteran Georgia Wicker and newcomer Hannah McKee. Wicker has recorded 10+ assists in 13 of the last 14 matches dating back to last season, including a career-high 31 in the 2018 ECC tournament semifinals. McKee will see her first action with the Wildcats after transferring last spring from St. Martin's (Wash.) where she totaled 139 assists in 18 matches.

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 134 digs over the first seven matches. Her performance at the season-opening Daemen Volleyball Invitational led to a selection on the all-tournament team as well as ECC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Greenwood has recorded 10+ digs in 37 of the last 40 matches dating back to her fresmen season, including the last 18 in a row. She posted 32 digs in Daemen's five-set win over Urbana earlier this season, one shy of her career-high. In 62 career matches, the junior defensive specialist has totaled 877 career digs.

BERNARD BATTLES BACK
After missing the entire 2017 season with an injury that threatened to end her career, redshirt junior Courtney Bernard battled her way back into the lineup in 2018. Bernard, who hit .343 and averaged 2.32 kills per set in 2016, appeared in 31 of the team's 32 matches while making 16 starts last season. She contributed a .260 hitting percentage and totaled 176 kills (1.83 kills/set). She established new career-highs for sets played (96), kills, attack attempts (430), blocks (49) and digs (51), and was arguably Daemen's best player during the ECC tournament when she averaged 3.12 kills and 1.38 blocks per set while leading the Wildcats to wins over Bridgeport and Molloy. Bernard is attacking at a .287 clip so far in 2019, and is averaging 1.64 kills per set. She totaled a season-high 10 kills in a five-set win over Urbana, and had eight kills with just one hitting error in a four-set win over Indiana (Pa.).

ALL-AMERICAN ADDITION
The Wildcats' 2019 recruiting class is headlined by 5-foot-10 middle blocker Loren Alberts who was an honorable mention selection to the AVCA Under Armour High School All-America Team last fall while completing her scholastic career at Huntley (Ill.) High School. Alberts averaged 2.2 kills and 3.2 blocks per set as a high school senior, and led Huntley on a 21-match winning streak.

POST-ING UP
Junior outside hitter Allison Post has picked up right where she left off in 2018. The California native led the Wildcats in kills in each of the team's first three matches, averaging 3.69 kills per set leading to her inclusion on the all-tournament team at the Daemen Volleyball Invitational. Through seven matches this season, Post is averaging a team-best 2.93 kills per set. She has recorded 10 or more kills in 10 of the last 15 matches dating back to last season. Her 21 kills in a five-set win over Urbana was one shy of her career-high for a single match. She added 10 digs against the Blue Knights to record fourth double-double of her career.

SUPER SAM
Sophomore Sam Logan was named to the all-tournament team at the Cal Vulcan Invitational after totaling 39 kills and 40 digs over four tournament matches. She posted 10+ kills in three of the four matches, and recorded a double-double (14 kills, 15 digs) in a five-set loss to West Liberty. Logan is presently second on the Wildcats in both total kills (66) and digs (72) this season.

SALEM SCOUTING REPORT
Salem is an independent member of NCAA Division II. The Tigers are led by third-year head coach Ashley Ziegle who has guided them to 18 wins over her first two seasons. Ziegle has held previous head coaching positions at West Virginia Tech and West Virginia Wesleyan. The Tigers' 2019 roster features just six returners and 11 freshmen. The Tigers are still searching for the first win of the season. They've dropped 13 consecutive matches dating back to last season.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. SALEM
Series Record: 0-0

WILMINGTON SCOUTING REPORT
Wilmington is a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The Wildcats are led by veteran head coach Kim Huggins-Habbert, now in her 16th season with the program. Huggins-Habbert has led the Wildcats to a 279-224 record to date, 11 CACC tournament appearances and one NCAA tournament berth. The Wildcats are coming off another successful campaign, posting a 19-14 overall record and a 13-6 mark in CACC play in 2018. They return nine players from that team, including All-CACC selections Mandy Behiels and Rebecca Rawlinson. Behiels, a junior OH, slammed down 367 kills last season, sixth-best in the CACC. Rawlinson collected a CACC-leading 120 blocks and added 224 kills. Bailey Andrews also returns after posting 270 kills last season. The Wildcats have opened the season with five wins in their first eight matches. They knocked off defending East Region champion American International last Friday, before suffering losses to Adelphi and Franklin Pierce on Saturday. Wilmington was picked fourth in the CACC South Division preseason poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. WILMINGTON
Series Record: 2-1
Streak: Won 2
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Wilmington 0 | Sept. 11, 2009 | at West Chester, Pa.

GLENVILLE STATE SCOUTING REPORT
Glenville State is a member of the Mountain East Conference, and the Pioneers are led by Tammy Gandee who is in her second season at the helm. Gandee, a 1983 GSC graduate, led the Pioneers to an 8-18 record in her inaugural season, including a 2-14 mark in MEC play. The Pioneers feature a 20-player roster comprised of nine returners and 11 freshmen. Among the returners are the Pioneers top three hitters from 2018: sophomore MH/OH Skylar Mace (team-high 239 kills), senior MH Jezaray Clark-Casto (team-high 2.77 kills per set average) and senior MH Chase Cooksey (168 kills). The Pioneers have opened 2019 with one win in their first eight matches. They'll enter this weekend looking to snap a six-match slide. GSC was picked 12th in the MEC preseason poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. GLENVILLE STATE
Series Record: 0-0

LOCK HAVEN SCOUTING REPORT
Lock Haven is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, and the Bald Eagles are led by first-year head coach Eric Buggs. His appointment was announced this past June after assisting coaching stints at Holy Cross, Niagara and Canisius. Lock Haven was picked fourth (out of four) in the PSAC Central Division preseason poll. They return 10 players from their 2018 team that went 10-17 overall and 5-13 in PSAC play. Among the returners is senior MB Breanna McDonald who posted a team-high 259 kills in 2018. No other returner posted more than 65 kills last season. Senior setter Kristen Nealon also returns after recording a team-high 947 assists, good for a 9.66 assists per set average last season. The Bald Eagles opened the season with three straight wins at the Rebich Investments Invitational hosted by Edinboro, including wins over Glenville State and Salem which they'll face again this weekend. LHU is coming off a split of two matches at the Soap For Hope Tri-Match last weekend, falling to host St. Rose before defeating Nyack. McDonald has paced the LHU offense thus far, averaging 3.85 kills per set.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. LOCK HAVEN
Series Record: 0-2
Streak: Lost 2
Last Meeting: Lock Haven 3, Daemen 0 | Sept. 14, 2015 | at Allendale, Mich.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen puts tournament play in the rearview mirror, and heads to Long Island where they'll play three matches over two days. The Wildcats open East Coast Conference play on Sunday, Sept. 29 by facing Molloy in a rematch of the 2018 ECC tournament championship. Non-conference matches against Pace (also Sunday at Molloy) and perennial NCAA tournament team Adelphi (Monday, Sept. 30) follow.

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