Women's Volleyball Welcomes Mercy & Bridgeport To WNY This Weekend

Wildcats with chance to lock up ECC regular season championship & top tourney seed

11/5/2021 10:30:00 AM

Match #25
Daemen Wildcats (17-7, 10-0 ECC) vs. Mercy Mavericks (11-12, 6-2 ECC)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 6
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
Live Stream: Via ECC Sports Network
Live Stats: Via daemenwildcats.com

Match #26
Daemen Wildcats vs. Bridgeport Purple Knights (15-8, 7-2 ECC)
Date: Sunday, Nov. 7
Time: 11 a.m.
Location: Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
Live Stream: Via ECC Sports Network
Live Stats: Via daemenwildcats.com

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

1. A CHANCE AT HISTORY
The Daemen women's volleyball team concludes the East Coast Conference portion of the 2021 regular season by hosting matches against Mercy and Bridgeport this weekend. The Wildcats enter the weekend with a perfect 10-0 mark in conference play, matching the longest conference winning streak in program history (1999, 2004). A win in either contest will clinch the No. 1 seed in this month's ECC Championship tournament for the Wildcats. Wins in both contests would give the program its first-ever unbeaten conference season. They'll have to beat two postseason-bound teams to do so as Bridgeport and Mercy enter the weekend claiming second and third place, respectively, in the conference standings.

2. PLAYOFF PICTURE
Daemen became the first ECC team to clinch a conference tournament berth following their 3-0 victory over Queens (N.Y.) on Oct. 22. Since then, the other four berths have been clinched as Bridgeport (7-2 ECC), Mercy (6-2 ECC) and Molloy (5-4 ECC) separated themselves from the remainder of the league. Final tournament seeds remain up for grabs. Should Daemen lock up the No. 1 seed, it would mark the program's third ECC regular season championship and the third time that the conference tournament would come to Amherst. The Wildcats made their ECC Championship debut by hosting in 2016 when they advanced to the tournament final. They completed some unfinished business when hosting the conference tournament in 2018, winning the title with a 3-1 defeat of second-seeded Molloy. This year's tournament has the semifinals taking place on Friday, Nov. 19, followed by the tournament final on Saturday, Nov. 20. The winner of the ECC Championship receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

3. REGIONAL POSITION
The NCAA published its first regional rankings of the 2021 season earlier this week. With wins in 13 of their last 15 matches, Daemen is ranked fifth in the East Region. 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 14-4 record against in-region opponents, and are one of only two East Region teams with a win over Stonehill which occupies the No. 1 ranking.

4. SENIOR SALUTE
Sunday's match marks the final home regular season contest in the careers of Daemen's Allison Post, Ali Cousins and Caitlyn Meyer. All three players will be recognized in a brief pre-match ceremony. Post, a 6-foot outside hitter from Northern California, has appeared in 80 matches across five seasons with the Wildcats, totaling 557 kills and 425 digs. She tied for the team lead with 241 kills in 2019, and may make her return to the lineup this weekend after battling through an injury that has kept her out of action since mid-October. Cousins is a 5-foot-6 outside hitter who has appeared in 25 matches during her career, averaging 1.68 kills and 1.82 digs per set. Meyer has made an immediate impact in her first and only season with the Wildcats after competing for four seasons at the Division I level for James Madison. Appearing in all 24 matches this season, Meyer has racked up a team-high 275 kills and leads the ECC in kills per set (3.48).

5. UP NEXT
The Wildcats wrap up the regular season with a non-conference contest Thursday, Nov. 11 at Le Moyne.

MERCY SCOUTING REPORT
First-year head coach Gary Preston, Jr. has Mercy off to a 6-2 start in ECC play (11-12 overall) while clinching the program's second straight conference tournament berth. The Mavericks have been idle since a 3-0 defeat of Queens on Oct. 28, but will head to Western New York with wins in three of their last four matches.

Just four players remain from Mercy's 2019 team that finished 14-18 overall and 5-5 in conference play while qualifying for the ECC Championships for the first time since 2008. The Mavericks have ridden newcomers Larissa Schneid and Nilka Rivera Maldonado offensively this season. Schneid is the reigning ECC Player of the Week after posting 18 kills, 11 digs and five blocks in the win over Queens. The native Brazilian ranks third among the ECC in kills per set (3.27) and is one of only five players conference-wide averaging at least 3.0. Rivera Maldonado isn't far behind, averaging 2.68 kills per set - good for sixth among the league leaders. Right side hitter Tynesha Adams is chipping in with 2.03 kills per set while also ranking third in the conference for blocks (0.70). Junior setter Yarianne Gonzalez ranks third among the ECC leaders for assists per set (8.81).

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. MERCY
Series Record: Daemen leads 12-3
At Daemen: Daemen leads 7-0
Current Streak: Daemen won 1
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Mercy 0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-21) | Oct. 9, 2021 | at Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. | Game Recap

BRIDGEPORT SCOUTING REPORT
Bridgeport is led by veteran head coach Gary Mullin who has led the Purple Knights to a 134-70 record in seven seasons at the helm. Mullin has UB sitting at 15-8 overall with wins in seven of their nine ECC matches thus far. The Purple Knights, who play at D'Youville Saturday afternoon, enter the weekend having won seven straight matches - the longest active winning streak among ECC teams. UB is coming off an impressive five-set victory over regionally-ranked (No. 7) Bentley earlier this week.

UB's roster includes more freshman (7) than players returning from their 2019 team (5) which advanced to the final round of both the ECC and East Region Championships, finishing with a 26-8 record. Grad student Amanda Hennemann, the ECC Preseason Player of the Year, headlines the UB returners and leads the team with 271 digs (third in ECC). Freshman Paola Hernandez has burst onto the scene as UB's offensive ace. She leads the conference with 305 total kills and ranks second in kills per set (3.43). Additional offensive production is coming from senior Emily Burford (2.61 kills/set), freshman Melanie Smith (2.51 kills/set) and senior Amanda Keller (2.29 kills/set, ECC-best .376 hitting percentage). Freshman setter Jaden Drollinger leads the ECC in assists (10.33) and service aces (0.51) per set.

As a team, Bridgeport is dangerous from the serving line as they lead the ECC and rank 15th nationally for service aces per set (2.13). The Purple Knight also boas the most efficient offense in the league, producing a team hitting percentage of .237.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. BRIDGEPORT
Series Record: Bridgeport leads 10-7
At Daemen: Bridgeport leads 5-4
Current Streak: Daemen won 1
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Bridgeport 0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-18) | Oct. 10, 2021 | at Bridgeport, Conn. | Game Recap

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