Women's Volleyball Closes Regular Season Thursday At Le Moyne

Wildcats looking for seventh straight win before heading into postseason

11/10/2021 4:15:00 PM

Match #27
Daemen Wildcats (19-7, 12-0 ECC) vs. Le Moyne Dolphins (4-15, 2-9 NE-10)
Date: Thursday, Nov. 11
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Syracuse, N.Y. | Ted Grant Court
Live Stream: Via NE-10 Now
Live Stats: Via lemoynedolphins.com

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

1. WRAP IT UP
The Daemen women's volleyball team plays its regular season finale Thursday against regional rival Le Moyne in Syracuse. It marks the 10th meeting between the Wildcats and Dolphins in the last 11 seasons, and the 18th meeting all-time. Daemen enters Thursday's action having won 15 of their last 17 matches, including the last six in a row. A win would give Daemen the 12th 20-win season in program history (third of the NCAA era) and first since 2018.

2. WE ARE THE (REGULAR SEASON) CHAMPIONS
Daemen is coming off a stellar weekend in which they swept Mercy and Bridgeport to complete the program's first-ever unbeaten run through a conference schedule. It marks the third regular season conference championship for the Wildcats since joining the ECC in 2013. Saturday's win over the Mavericks allowed the Wildcats to clinch the No. 1 seed in the upcoming ECC Championship tournament (Nov. 19-20) which will come to Lumsden Gymnasium for the third time. Bridgeport, Mercy and Molloy have all clinched bids to the tournament, although their final seeds remain up for grabs this week.

3. REGIONAL POSITION
The NCAA published its second regional rankings of the 2021 season earlier today. Daemen is ranked fifth in the East Region for the second consecutive week. The East Region of NCAA Division II is comprised of teams from the East Coast Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and the regional rankings are used to determine at-large bids to the East Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament following the respective conference tournaments later this month. The Wildcats own a 17-4 record against in-region opponents, and are one of only three East Region teams with a win over Stonehill which occupies the No. 1 ranking for a second consecutive week. This week's regional poll is as follows...

1. Stonehill (20-7)
2. American International (22-6)
3. Holy Family (22-3)
4. New Haven (19-7)
5. DAEMEN (19-7)
6. Jefferson (22-4)
7. Bentley (13-11)
8. Southern Connecticut State (22-8)
9. Adelphi (16-10)
10. St. Anselm (17-6)

4. MORE AWARDS
Graduate student Caitlyn Meyer and sophomore Dunja Masic became the latest Wildcats to receive weekly awards from the ECC. Meyer was named the league's Player of the Week for the fourth time this season after totaling 31 kills (3.44 kills/set) on a .509 hitting percentage in Daemen victories over D'Youville, Mercy and Bridgeport. Meyer has made an immediate impact in her first and only season with the Wildcats after playing four years at Division I James Madison. She heads into the final week of the regular season with a team-high 295 kills and leading the ECC in kills per set (3.47). She'll have an opportunity Thursday to become only the fourth player of Daemen's NCAA era to record 300 kills in a season. Masic was named the ECC Setter of the Week for a second time after totaling 65 assists (8.13 assists/set) in the three Daemen wins. With starting setter Olivia Alessi sidelined on the weekend, Masic averaged 9.50 assists per set to lead the Wildcats past Mercy and Bridgeport. Masic and Alessi have accounted for five of the 10 ECC Setter of the Week selections this season, and Daemen remains the only team with multiple Setter of the Week recipients since the award was instituted in 2014.

5. UP NEXT
The Wildcats will host the ECC Championship tournament at Lumsden Gymnasium with the semifinals slated for Friday, Nov. 19 and the finals on Saturday, Nov. 20. Final tournament seeds, semifinal matchups and game times will be announced in the coming days.

LE MOYNE SCOUTING REPORT
The Le Moyne Dolphins are members of the Northeast-10 Conference, and are led by alumnus Bethany Fabian who was named head coach prior to the 2019 season. Fabian guided the team to a 14-13 record in her debut season, and the Dolphins returned to action in 2021 after opting out of the 2020 campaign due to Covid-19.

Just seven players remain from Le Moyne's 2019 team, and their roster includes eight players who are competing for the first time at the collegiate level. The Dolphins have picked up just four wins in their first 19 matches this season. Le Moyne snapped a four-match slide with a 3-0 sweep of Franklin Pierce on Oct. 30, but are coming off a 3-0 loss to St. Anselm this past Saturday.

Junior Madeleine Kennedy has been the primary point producer for the Dolphins this season. The Michigan native has a team-high 207 kills and ranks fifth among the NE-10 leaders in kills per set (3.23). Kennedy has appeared in all 19 matches and has recorded 10+ kills 13 times, including a season-high 17 in the recent win over Franklin Pierce.

Graduate student Emily Yancone has been the Dolphins' primary setter (431 assists, 7.70 assists/set) and ranks fourth in the NE-10 for service aces per set (0.45). Additional offensive production is coming from redshirt freshman Maethavee Siphakongviseth (1.82 kills/set) and senior Lexi Petraitis (1.68 kills/set, team-high .245 hitting percentage).

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. LE MOYNE
Series Record: Daemen leads 9-8
At Le Moyne: Le Moyne leads 6-3
Current Streak: Daemen won 1
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Mercy 1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-19) | Nov. 13, 2019 | at Amherst, N.Y.

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