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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
wvb team elite eight
Tim Britt
0
Daemen DAE 25-8,12-0 ECC
3
Winner Western Wash. WWU 25-4,17-1 GNAC
Daemen DAE
25-8,12-0 ECC
0
Final
3
Western Wash. WWU
25-4,17-1 GNAC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Daemen DAE 12 16 19 (0)
Western Wash. WWU 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | CONTACT: Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for Communications/Operations | 716-839-8385 | mmiranto@daemen.edu

Wildcats' Run Ends At Elite Eight

Seventh-seeded Daemen upended by second-seeded Western Washington in national quarterfinals

TAMPA, Fla. - Daemen saw their historic 2021 season come to an end today following a 3-0 loss (25-12, 25-16, 25-19) to Western Washington in the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship Elite Eight at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on the campus of the University of Tampa. 

After ending American International's 22-match winning streak to win the East Regional title last Saturday, Daemen couldn't do the same to the highly touted Vikings. WWU extended their winning streak to 20 straight matches - the longest active streak among Division II teams - and improved to 25-4 overall. The Vikings are the No. 2 seed in the Elite Eight and are also ranked 13th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll. They advance to the Final Four where they'll face third-seeded Washburn tomorrow at 5 p.m.

Daemen, the No. 7 seed, finishes with a 25-8 overall record. The Wildcats matched the highest win total of the program's NCAA Division II era (2015-present) which was last achieved in 2016. Today's loss snapped the Wildcats' 12-match winning streak which ranked as the third longest among Division II teams heading into today's contest. 

Western Washington came out of the gates swinging. The Vikings dominated the opening set and totaled 13 kills on just 23 attempts, posting a .478 hitting percentage. The Wildcats managed just five kills and have a negative hitting percentage (-.045) in the set. 

The Wildcats responded however, and started to find themselves early in the second set. Caitlyn Meyer (Clarence, N.Y.) and Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) combined for seven of Daemen's nine kills as the Wildcats built a 13-10 lead. But, Western Washington quickly flipped the script and closed the set with a 15-3 run. The Vikings took their first lead of the frame at 15-14 following a Daemen hitting error. Calley Heilborn gave them the lead for good at 16-15 and put down two more for the 24th and 25th points of the set.

After fending off Daemen's best push, the Vikings carried that momentum into the third set where they powered down a remarkable 20 kills on a .457 hitting percentage. They opened up a 14-8 lead and maintained at least a five-point advantage until Daemen climbed within 20-18 following a series of WWU errors. After calling timeout for the first time in the match, the Vikings went on a 5-1 run that included a pair of kills from Chloe Roetcisoender to end the match.

WWU finished with 43 kills and a .435 hitting percentage - the most efficient offensive performance against Daemen this season. The Wildcats entered the match ranked ninth in the country for opponents' hitting percentage (.117). The Vikings also totaled eight blocks in the match, running their season total 293 - second-best among all Division II teams. 

Daemen posted an .099 hitting percentage and were held to season-lows in kills (25), digs (29) and blocks (1). 

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Heilborn led the way for WWU, finishing with a match-high13 kills to go with eight digs. 
  • Gabby Gunterman tallied eight kills, 12 digs and three block assists, while Olivia Fairchild chipped in seven kills and two block assists. Six players recorded at least one block assist for the Vikings.
  • Malia Aleaga ran the WWU offense and notched a match-high 28 assists.
  • Meyer, the East Coast Conference Player of the Year and AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, wrapped up her career by posting team-highs of eight kills and seven digs. 
  • Logan chipped in seven kills and seven digs, while Olivia Alessi (East Aurora, N.Y.) totaled 20 assists. 

QUOTABLE - HEAD COACH STEPHANIE ALBANO
  • "Western Washington is a really good team. They don't make errors and we're not used to seeing that level of play. I did, however, think we did a really good job, we came out fighting in the third set and never just them have it. So, I'm proud of our effort."
  • "I thought that the first set, for us, we were a little jittery. The moment was really big. Then we composed ourselves in sets two and three and we competed. We competed with that team and we played hard."

GAME NOTES
  • Daemen dropped to 5-3 all-time in NCAA tournament play. The Wildcats were making the third NCAA tournament appearance in program history (2016, 2018, 2021). 
  • This is the first NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship to be held since 2019. The tournament was wiped out in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  • Daemen advanced to the Elite Eight with a 3-1 win over American International - the East Region's No. 1 seed - on Dec. 4. Western Washington advanced by defeating fifth-seeded Cal State Los Angeles in three sets to win the West Regional title last Saturday.
  • Western Washington is the first West Region opponent Daemen has faced during the program's NCAA Division II era. 
  • Western Washington is a perennial powerhouse in the West Region. The Vikings have won four straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships and are in the midst of the 15th NCAA tournament appearance in program history. They are appearing in the Elite Eight for the fourth time. WWU has won 91 of their last 104 matches and have been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 Poll for 121 consecutive weeks - a span that dates back to 2012. 
  • Daemen's Meyer, Allison Post (Windsor, Calif.) and Ali Cousins (Eldred, Pa.) saw their careers come to an end today. Post and Cousins were both subbed into the match prior to the final point. Post appeared in 86 matches across five seasons, helping Daemen to a 76-50 record and two conference championships. She totaled 565 kills and 432 digs. Cousins appeared in 29 matches during her four-year career and totaled 93 kills and 103 digs.
  • Meyer, who transferred to Daemen for a final season of college volleyball following a four-year career at Division I James Madison, finished the year with 373 kills - the most for a Daemen player since sisters Ashley and Amber Drzymala totaled 434 and 379 kills, respectively, during the 2016 season. 
  • Logan finished the season with a career-high 281 kills. She'll return for a fifth season of eligibility next fall. 
  • The Wildcats reached the 25-win plateau for the 10th time in program history, as well as the second time as an NCAA program.
  • Daemen's 12-match win streak was the program's longest since rattling off 15 in a row during the 2016 season when they advanced to the regional finals, also known as the "Sweet 16."
  • Daemen is the 14th East Coast Conference team to advance to the Elite Eight in the last 20 seasons.
  • This marks the third time a Daemen team has competed in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight during the 2021 calendar year. The Daemen men's and women's basketball teams advanced to their respective Elite Eight rounds last March.
  • Daemen is set to return 14 players, including six starters, next season. 

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 18 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.

Follow the Daemen College women's volleyball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWVB.
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