ECC Championship Rematch Headlines Three-Match Swing Through Long Island

Wildcats Open ECC Play Against Molloy; Will Take On Pace & Adelphi In Non-Conference Contests

9/27/2019 11:00:00 AM

MATCH INFORMATION & LINKS
Game #12
Daemen Wildcats (8-3, 0-0 ECC) vs. Molloy Lions (8-3, 0-0 ECC)
Sunday, Sept. 29 | 12 p.m.
Rockville Centre, N.Y. | Quealy Gymnasium
Live Stats
Live Streaming Video (via ECC Network)

Game #13
Daemen Wildcats vs. Pace Setters (1-8, 0-1 NE-10)
Sunday, Sept. 29 | 3:30 p.m.
Rockville Centre, N.Y. | Quealy Gymnasium
Live Stats
Live Streaming Video (via ECC Network)

Game #14
Daemen Wildcats vs. Adelphi Panthers (7-2, 1-0 NE-10)
Monday, Sept. 30 | 4:30 p.m.
Garden City, N.Y. | Center for Recreation & Sport
Live Stats
Live Streaming Video (via Stretch Internet)

THE SERVE
A three-match swing through Long Island is on the docket for the Daemen women's volleyball team, beginning Sunday with their East Coast Conference season opener against Molloy, a rematch of the ECC tournament finals. It should be a good one as both teams have ridden key returning players to strong starts this season. The Wildcats and Lions combined to go 24-4 in ECC matches last season, and both teams advanced to the NCAA tournament. Sunday also features a neutral site match between Daemen and Pace (at Molloy's Quealy Gymnasium). And the road trip concludes Monday with the Wildcats visiting perennial NCAA tournament qualifier Adelphi which was picked atop the Northeast-10 Conference preseason poll.

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 65-38 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 42 of 43 career matches, and she recently surpassed Chelsea Turcer for 10th place on Daemen's all-time assists list. She'll get help running the offense from veteran Georgia Wicker and newcomer Hannah McKee. Wicker has recorded 10+ assists in 15 of the last 18 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 170 digs over the first 11 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 38 of the last 44 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. In 66 career matches, the junior defensive specialist has totaled 912 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 .314 clip so far in 2019, and is averaging 1.78 kills per set. She totaled a season-high 10 kills in a five-set win over Urbana, and has had five matches with at least seven kills.

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 11 matches this season, Post is averaging a team-best 2.71 kills per set. She has recorded 10 or more kills in 10 of the last 19 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 one of four players in the ECC to be averaging better than 2.0 kills and digs per set (2.36 kills, 2.72 digs per set).

MOLLOY SCOUTING REPORT
Molloy has really turned things around since the hiring of head coach Kevin DesLauriers in 2017. The Lions had posted 18 consecutive losing seasons, but DesLauriers has guided them to back-to-back 20-win seasons and two NCAA tournament berths. The Lions have won 75 percent of their contests since the start of the 2017 season, posting a 54-18 record. Much is expected of them again this season as they were tied for first (with Daemen) in the ECC preseason poll. The Lions bring back 13 players from their 2018 team, including four who earned all-conference recognition. That group is undoubtedly headlined by Kacey Affrunti, the 2019 ECC Preseason Player of the Year. The junior middle hitter currently ranks second in hitting percentage (.317) and fourth in kills per set (3.30) among the ECC leaders. Fellow first-team All-ECC pick Carly Banks also returns. She's posting 3.38 kills per set from her outside hitter position so far this season, ranking second in the ECC. Sophia Smith, who shared Setter of the Year honors with Daemen's Isa McCaffrey last season, is averaging a league-best 10.32 assists per set, and senior defensive specalist Jessica Fischetti leads the ECC in digs per set (4.80). The Lions opened the season with seven straight wins, but have dropped three of their last four. All three losses have been five-set affairs, including one to #5 Lewis last weekend. Molloy hosts Roberts Wesleyan in their ECC season opener Saturday.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. MOLLOY
Series Record: 11-3
Streak: Won 3
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Molloy 1 | Nov. 10, 2018 | at Amherst, N.Y. | ECC Championship Finals

PACE SCOUTING REPORT
Pace is a member of Northeast-10 Conference, and the Setters are led by first-year head coach Jackie Granger who took the reins following stints as an assistant at Georgetown, NJIT and Dominican (N.Y.). She's been working with a roster that includes 13 returners from Pace's 2018 team that went 20-10 overall and 8-6 in NE-10 play. The roster is headlined by senior middle blocker Tatjana Calimpong-Burke who tallied a team-high 340 kills last season, good for a 3.06 kills-per-set average. Setters Samantha Nidini (team-high 5.88 ast/set) and Katy Motz also return, along with defensive specialist Danielle Vaiano (team-high 4.07 digs/set). Pace was picked seventh in the NE-10 preseason poll. It's been a rough go to start the season, but the Setters shook off an 0-7 start with a 3-1 win over Mercy last week, but followed up with a loss to Adelphi in their NE-10 season opener. The Setters play at Southern Connecticut State tonight and at Bloomfield on Saturday afternoon before their neutral site match with Daemen to close the weekend.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. PACE
Series Record: 2-0
Streak: Won 2
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Pace 1 | Sept. 30, 2017 | at Rochester, N.Y.

ADELPHI SCOUTING REPORT
Adelphi has been a perennial powerhouse in the Northeast-10 Conference and the NCAA Division II East Region for more than a decade. The Panthers have been to the NCAA tournament 11 times over the last 12 seasons, all under the direction of head coach Danielle MacKnight. Now in her 13th season, MacKnight has guided the Panthers to a 277-133 overall record.  The Panthers return 11 players from their 2018 team that went 27-7 overall and 12-2 in NE-10 play. The group of returners is led by first-team All-NE-10 picks Sara Bisbe and Katarina Warburton. Bisbe, a senior outside hitter, tied for the NE-10 lead by averaging 3.59 kills per set last season. Warburton averaged 5.57 digs per set and was named the NE-10 Libero of the Year. Sophomores Sara Mandreja and Grace Wegmann also return after being named to the NE-10 All-Rookie Team in 2018. The Panthers, who were picked first in the NE-10 preseason poll, are off to a fast start at 7-2 overall. They'll take a three-match winning streak into their Saturday match vs. Le Moyne before facing Daemen on Monday afternoon.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. ADELPHI
Series Record: 2-0
Streak: Won 2
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Adelphi 2 | Sept. 16, 2017 | at Albany, N.Y.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium to host a pair of East Coast Conference matches as Mercy (Friday, Oct. 4) and Queens (Saturday, Oct. 5) visit next weekend.

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