AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 win (25-12, 25-14, 25-18) over visiting Wilmington University tonight at Lumsden Gymnasium. The win gave Daemen a clean sweep on the opening day of the Daemen Volleyball Classic presented by Millennium Buffalo after defeating Salem University earlier today.
Daemen has won four straight matches, and their nightcap victory tonight pushes their season record to 6-3. Wilmington, which uses "Wildcats" as its mascot the same as Daemen, fell to 6-4.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Eight players recorded at least one kill for the Wildcats. Senior Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y.) led the way with a season-high nine kills. Ballou's production came on just 20 swings with a hitting percentage of .350.
- Juniors Jenn Heritz (Granger, Ind.) and Allison Post (Windsor, Calif.) tossed in seven and six kills, respectively.
- Junior setter Georgia Wicker (Woodstock, Ill.) shared match-high honors with 16 assists. Isa McCaffrey (North Royalton, Ohio) added eight assists, snapping a streak of 40 consecutive matches with 10 or more assists.
- Daemen jumped out to a 15-6 lead in the opening set and never looked back. Their first-set lead grew to as many as 13 points.
- The second set saw more of the same as Daemen jumped out 11-5. Wilmington clawed back to within 13-10, but the home team scored seven of the next eight points to build back some breathing room, eventually closing the period with an 11-point spread.
- Daemen led 16-6 in the third, but Wilmington fought back and got within 21-17. Daemen closed on a 4-1 run to end the set and the match.
HEAD COACH STEPHANIE ALBANO POST-GAME COMMENTS
"I thought we did a really good job of recognizing the game and taking care of our first touch which we've been stressing all year. I really like the contributions we got from everybody across the board. It's really fun to be able to put people in different spots and then to still compete at a very high level."
GAME NOTES
- The win was Daemen's fourth in five contests at Lumsden Gymnasium this season. The Wildcats have won 10 of their last 11 home matches, and are 14-4 at Lumsden Gymnasium since the start of the 2018 season.
- Wilmington is a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and the NCAA Division II East Region. Since the start of the 2016 season, Daemen is unbeaten against CACC opponents (5-0) and 53-18 against all regional opponents.
UP NEXT
The Daemen Volleyball Classic continues with four matches on Saturday, including two that involve the Wildcats. Daemen takes on Glenville State College at 1 p.m. and closes the tournament against Lock Haven University at 5 p.m.
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.
