AMHERST, N.Y. - Competing for the second time in as many weeks following a nearly 500-day hiatus, the Daemen women's volleyball team provided a stiff challenge to the highly touted Gannon Golden Knights, but ultimately came up short in both matches of doubleheader action today at Lumsden Gymnasium. After Gannon took the first match by a 3-0 final (25-20, 25-22, 25-16), the Wildcats bounced back in pushed the second match to a deciding set before falling 3-2 (25-15, 25-15, 24-26, 13-25, 15-6). 

Daemen, which dropped its season opener to Mercyhurst last week, fell to 0-3 this season. Daemen had its traditional fall season delayed due to the pandemic and the Wildcats are playing an abbreviated eight match schedule this spring. For consistency purposes the season will be labeled as 2020 and all results and statistics will count in the historical records.

Gannon, which entered the weekend ranked No. 8 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II coaches' poll, kept its perfect record intact, improving to 13-0. The Golden Knights have been one of the Atlantic Region's top teams for more than a decade, winning more than 300 matches and making 11 NCAA tournament appearances in the 14-year tenure of head coach Matt Darling. 

Gannon never trailed by more than two points in the opening match. Daemen led 17-16 in the first and second sets before Gannon out-executed the Wildcats down the stretch, closing on 9-3 and 9-5 runs, respectively. The Golden Knights opened up an 18-9 advantage in the third set, and although Daemen pulled with 20-16, Gannon was able to close the set and the match.

Gannon carried their strong play at the finish of match number one into the opening two sets of match number two. The Golden Knights opened up early leads and never trailed while taking a 2-0 lead in the match. 

After trailing by as many as seven points in the third set, Daemen came to life. The Wildcats fended off four match points and rallied from a 24-20 deficit to take the set 26-24. The momentum pendulum swung hard in Daemen's favor as the Wildcats opened up a 17-5 advantage in the fourth set while cruising to a 25-13 set score to even the match. 

In the fifth, the decisive run came when Gannon scored seven points in a row, turning a 5-5 tie into an insurmountable 12-5 advantage en route to the 15-6 final.
 

IMPACT PLAYERS - MATCH #1

• Lauren Sampson powered down a match-high 12 kills to pace a balanced Gannon offense. Ashley Kerestes (seven kills), Laura Bebinger (six kills) and Ashley McClung (six assists) chipped in as Gannon attacked at a .194 clip. 
• Kaeli Kristensen (17 assists) and Valeria Torres (13 assists) combined for 30 of Gannon's 37 assists. Defensively, Torres added 13 digs as the Golden Knights were led by the 20 digs of Kenzie Lasher. 
• Hoosier natives Jordan Martin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Jenn Heritz (Granger, Ind.) paced the Wildcats with seven kills apiece, and Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) added six. 
• Freshman Dunja Masic (McHenry, Ill.) handled the setting duties and totaled a match-high 25 assists. 
• Defensively, freshman Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) shined with 22 digs, while Georgia Wicker (Woodstock, Ill.) and Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) added 13 and 10, respectively. 

IMPACT PLAYERS - MATCH #2

• Gannon played 16 different players in the doubleheader finale, 11 of whom recorded at least one kill. Sampson (11 kills) and McClung (10 kills) led the way, combining for 21 of Gannon's 51 kills. 
• Kristensen (24 assists) and Torres (17 assists) again split the setting chores for Gannon which also got 15 digs from Madde Blake.
• Heritz attacked at a .429 clip and recorded a match-high 18 kills - her second match with 15+ this season. 
• Masic posted a double-double, finishing with 36 assists and 10 digs. 
• Wicker (17 digs) and Burns (15 digs) were again in double figures in the digs category. Wicker tossed in four of Daemen's season-high 11 service aces. 

GAME NOTES

• Eleven players return from Daemen's 2019 team that finished 16-12 overall and 5-5 in East Coast Conference play.
• Daemen was without the services of junior setter Hannah McKee (East Highland, Calif.) and senior outside hitter Allison Post (Windsor, Calif.) due to injury. McKee led the team in assists (528) in 2019, while Post shared the team lead for kills (241) with Heritz.
• Wicker totaled 30 digs today, including the 1,000th of her career. In 90 matches, Wicker has totaled 1,018 digs and averaged 3.13 digs per set. She is the second player on Daemen's current roster to surpass the milestone, joining classmate Ali Greenwood (North Aurora, Ill.) who has recorded 1,161 digs in 85 career matches.
• While there will be no East Coast Conference season or championship tournament and the season is anything but ordinary, the matches do count towards official win-loss records. Statistics from each match also count towards career totals for each player and towards final NCAA statistical rankings. 
• Gannon has now won 13 straight meetings with Daemen, improving to 13-1 in the all-time series. Daemen's last win over the Golden Knights came on Sept. 1, 1998.

NEXT SERVE
The Wildcats look to jump into the win column when they play on the road at D'Youville on Thursday, April 8. 

Daemen College features the premier 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.

Support Daemen College's return to intercollegiate athletic competitions by making a contribution to the Game On Campaign and the Daemen Wildcats Gotta Play Fund. This comprehensive fundraising campaign was established to help offset the loss of valuable external revenue streams that directly support Daemen's 17 varsity teams. To learn more, visit daemenwildcats.com/gameon.