Defending ECC Champs Host Season-Opening Tourney This Weekend

Daemen Volleyball Invitational Features Six Total Matches Over Friday & Saturday

9/5/2019 12:15:00 PM

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Daemen Volleyball Invitational presented by Millennium Buffalo

Friday, Sept. 6
3:30 p.m. - Urbana Blue Knights (0-0, 0-0 MEC) vs. Merychurst Lakers (0-0, 0-0 PSAC)
6 p.m. - Daemen Wildcats (0-0, 0-0 ECC) vs. Ursuline Arrows (0-0, 0-0 GMAC)

Saturday, Sept. 7
11 a.m. - Mercyhurst Lakers vs. Ursuline Arrows
1:30 p.m. - Daemen Wildcats vs. Urbana Blue Knights
3:30 p.m. - Urbana Blue Knights vs. Ursuline Arrows
6 p.m. - Daemen Wildcats vs. Mercyhurst Lakers

All matches played at Lumsden Gymnasium

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

THE SERVE
Daemen opens the 2019 season by hosting the Daemen Volleyball Invitational, the first of two home tournaments on the docket this month, bringing three opponents to campus with a total of six matches to be played. The Wildcats are coming off a magical 2018 season that saw them post a 21-11 overall record and 13-1 mark in East Coast Conference play, resulting in the ECC regular season and tournament championships, as well as the program's second NCAA tournament berth. The opponents coming in this weekend - Ursuline, Urbana and Mercyhurst - hail from three different conferences, and the teams combined to go 43-50 last season.

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. She enters 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. She'll get help running the offense from veteran Georgia Wicker and newcomer Hannah McKee. Wicker recorded 10+ assists in each of the final seven matches last season, including a career-high 31 in the ECC tournament semifinals. McKee will see her first action with the Wildcats after transferring last spring from St. Martin's (Wash.).

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. In 55 career matches, Greenwood has totaled 743 digs. She'll look to set the tone defensively again as she returns for her junior season, and will have freshmen defensive specialists Lexi Todd and Mickaley Monahan following in her footsteps.

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 has 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.

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.

URSULINE SCOUTING REPORT
Ursuline is a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, and the Arrows are led by first-year head coach Calaeb Campbell. After spending the 2018 season as an assistant coach at Division I Youngstown State, Campbell was named the fourth head coach in Ursuline's program history. Campbell inherits a veteran group to work with as the Arrows return nine players from their 2018 team that went 12-17 overall and 8-11 in GMAC play. Junior outside hitter Vikki Henderson headlines the Ursuline returners after powering down 387 kills (sixth-best in GMAC) en route to earning second-team All-GMAC honors last season. Senior middle blocker/right side Angela Zamora will look to provide offensive support as she did last year with 235 kills. The Arrows must cope with the graduation of setter Katelyn Selleny, a second-team All-GMAC player, and will turn to Mount Vernon Nazarene transfer Regan Nickol to run the offense. The Arrows were picked 10th out of 13 teams in the GMAC preseason coaches' poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. URSULINE
Series Record: 15-3
Streak: Won 4
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Ursuline 1 | Sept. 1, 2017 | Indiana, Pa.

URBANA SCOUTING REPORT
Urbana is a member of the Mountain East Conference, and the Blue Knights are led by head coach Kara Hellmann who enters her second season with the program. No stranger to Western New York, Hellmann spent five years on Monteagle Ridge as an assistant coach at Division I Niagara. She led the Blue Knights to a 21-12 record in her debut season, including a 10-6 mark in MEC play, good for sixth place in the league standings. Gone is first-team All-MEC outside hitter Madison Davis and her 445 kills, but Urbana returns 10 players from last season's roster, including four who started at least 29 matches. Sophomore outside hitter Hannah Delor (390 kills) and junior setter Anna Davis (667 assists) were each honorable mention All-MEC selections. Junior Courtney Niesen, who ranked second in the MEC with 745 digs, returns to anchor the Urbana defense. Urbana was tied for third place in the MEC presason coaches' poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. URBANA
Series Record: 2-2
Streak: Lost 2
Last Meeting: Urbana 3, Daemen 2 | Sept. 14, 2018 | Rochester, N.Y.

MERCYHURST SCOUTING REPORT
Mercyhurst is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, and the Lakers are led by veteran coach Ryan Patton who is entering his 16th season at the helm. Over the course of his tenure, Patton has led the Lakers to three 20-win seasons and an overall record of 223-214. Mercyhurst is looking for a bounce back season after going 10-21 overall and 5-13 in PSAC play last fall. Thirteen players return to the fold, including senior outside hitter Katie Baird who earned thrid-team All-PSAC honors in 2018. Baird led the Lakers with 369 kills and added 255 digs as a six-rotation player. Senior Mary Marusza and junior Claire Kenny return after combining for 1,104 assists as the Lakers' setters last season. Marusza is a Western New York native and product of Nardin Academy. The Lakers also feature St. Mary's of Lancaster product Alyssa Zirnheld who totaled 273 kills a season ago. Mercyhurst has been picked fourth (out of five) in the PSAC Northwest Division preseason coaches' poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. MERCYHURST
Series Record: 2-8
Streak: Lost 1
Last Meeting: Mercyhurst 3, Daemen 2 | Oct. 23, 2012 | Erie, Pa.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen plays in its second of three early season tournaments next weekend at the Cal (Pa.) Vulcan Invitational. The two-day tournament (Sept. 13-14) has Daemen playing West Liberty, Davis & Elkins, Indiana (Pa.) and tournament host Cal.

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