AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's volleyball team split a pair of matches today to wrap up the two-day Daemen Volleyball Invitational presented by Millennium Buffalo. The Wildcats rallied from an 0-2 deficit to defeat Urbana University in five sets (20-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-12) this afternoon, but were thwarted in their attempt at a three-match weekend sweep when they fell 3-2 to Mercyhurst University in the nightcap (25-20, 18-25, 25-23, 18-25, 17-19).
Other results today included Mercyhurst's 3-0 shutout of Ursuline College, part of a perfect 3-0 weekend for the Lakers. Urbana regrouped following their loss to Daemen to defeat Ursuline 3-2. Urbana finished the weekend with a 1-2 record, and Ursuline went 0-3.
HIGHLIGHTS: DAEMEN VS. URBANA
- After dropping the opening two sets, Daemen rallied to take the next three in front of a raucous Lumsden Gymnasium crowd.
- Junior outside hitter Allison Post (Windsor, Calif.) led the way with 22 kills - one shy of her single-game career-high. She added 10 digs to record the fourth double-double of her career.
- The right-side was strong for the Wildcats as well with redshirt senior Courtney Bernard (Lancaster, Ohio) and junior Jenn Heritz (Granger, Ind.) each powering down 10 kills. Bernard's production came on just 25 swings as she hit .320 in the match.
- Setters Isa McCaffrey (North Royalton, Ohio) and Georgia Wicker (Woodstock, Ill.) contributed 22 and 19 assists, respectively. Wicker added 17 digs for the third double-double of her career. McCaffrey's lone kill of the match was a pivotal play late in the fifth set.
- Junior Ali Greenwood (North Aurora, Ill.) notched 32 digs, just one shy of her career-best effort.
- Hannah Delor dropped a team-high 10 kills and added 10 digs for the Blue Knights
- Courtney Niesen posted 22 digs to lead the Urbana defense.
- Daemen attacked at a .190 clip for the match, and limited Urbana to just an .024 hitting percentage.
- Service was a tale of two different teams as Urbana racked up 16 aces while Daemen committed 17 errors.
HIGHLIGHTS: DAEMEN VS. MERCYHURST
- Daemen led 13-8 in the deciding set but Mercyhurst rattled off five straight points to pull even.
- The Lakers fended off three match points, and rallied for the win with back-to-back points on a kill by Alyssa Zirnheld and a service ace by Hailey Wilson.
- Katie Baird (14 kills) and Zirnheld (10 kills, 17 digs) led the way offensively for the Lakers, aided by setters Claire Kenny (28 assists, 11 digs) and Mary Marusza (16 assists).
- Post topped the Daemen hitters for the third straight match as she powered down 14 kills to go with nine digs.
- Heritz (13 kills) and sophomore Sam Logan (11 kills) also contributed offensively; Logan chipped in defensively as well with a career-high 18 digs.
- Greenwood added a match-high 25 digs, and McCaffrey totaled a season-high 30 assists for the Wildcats.
HEAD COACH STEPHANIE ALBANO POST-GAME COMMENTS
"I thought we played some really good volleyball today. Obviously there's some things to clean up, but overall I'm pleased with where we stand after the opening weekend. It's a good starting point for us."
GAME NOTES
- The loss to Mercyhurst snapped Daemen's eight-match winning streak at Lumsden Gymnasium; their last home loss came Sept. 23, 2018 against the University of New Haven
- The Wildcats were bidding for just the third 3-0 start in program history, and the first since 2003.
- Ali Greenwood recorded her 800th career dig in the loss to Mercyhurst. She now has 816 digs in 58 career matches.
- Isa McCaffrey extended her streak of consecutive matches with at least 10 assists to 35 straight; with 1,169 assists, she stands 103 shy of moving into the top-10 in team history.
- Daemen's win over Urbana snapped a two-match slide in the all-time series. Daemen now leads the series 3-2, and fittingly, the last three meetings have all taken five sets to decide.
- The meeting with Mercyhurst was Daemen's first since 2012. The Lakers own a 9-2 edge in the all-time series which dates back to 1997.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
- Regan Nickol, Ursuline
- Courtney Niesen, Urbana
- Alyssa Zirnheld, Mercyhurst
- Claire Kenny, Mercyhurst
- Allison Post, Daemen
- Ali Greenwood, Daemen
UP NEXT
The Wildcats hit the road for the Cal Vulcan Invitational on Sept. 13-14 where they'll face West Liberty University, Davis & Elkins College, Indiana University (Pa.) and tournament host California University (Pa.).
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.
