Women's Volleyball Picked Second In ECC Preseason Poll

Wildcats garner four first-place votes

8/25/2021 1:29:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications | (716) 839-8385 | mmiranto@daemen.edu

AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen has been picked second in the East Coast Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll which was released this afternoon following a vote of the league's seven head coaches. The ECC is poised to sponsor a women's volleyball season for the first time since 2019. The full ECC slate was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Wildcats garnered 42 points in the poll, including four first-place votes - the most of any team. The 2019 ECC champions, Molloy, picked up three first-place votes and edged the Wildcats with 45 points as the coaches tabbed the Lions as preseason favorites. The Wildcats enter the 2021 season looking for their third ECC regular season title since 2016.

Bridgeport (36 points) and Mercy (28 points) round out the preseason top-four. All four teams qualified for the ECC Championships in 2019. The poll concludes with fifth-place Roberts Wesleyan (18 points), sixth-place Queens (14 points) and seventh-place D'Youville (12 points). D'Youville is competing in the ECC for the first time as its program continues to transition from Division III to Division II.

Only Daemen, Roberts Wesleyan and D'Youville played in countable matches during the 2020-21 academic year, amidst the pandemic. The Wildcats posted an even 3-3 record during a shortened campaign that was unorthodoxly played during the Spring 2021 semester. Molloy, Bridgeport, Mercy and Queens will all be competing for the first time in more than 650 days when their respective schedules get underway next month.

The Wildcats boast an 18-player roster, arguably the deepest in the six-year tenure of head coach Stephanie Albano. The roster includes 12 returning players who weathered the storm surrounding the pandemic to compete last spring, namely graduate student Allison Post (Windsor, Calif.) and senior Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) who were key contributors on the Wildcats' 2018 NCAA tournament team. Outside hitters Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) and Jordan Martin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) also return, while graduate transfer Caitlyn Meyer (Clarence, N.Y.) looks to make an impact following a four-year stint at Division I James Madison.

Daemen opens the 2021 season with a trio of tournaments. They'll travel to Michigan for the Warrior Invitational hosted by Wayne State (Sept. 3-4); Ohio for the Cavalier Invitational hosted by Walsh (Sept. 10-11); and just down the thruway to Rochester for the Redhawks Invitational hosted by long-time rival Roberts Wesleyan (Sept. 17-18). The ECC slate gets underway Sept. 25 with the Wildcats facing Queens, followed the next day by an early season duel with Molloy. The league schedule wraps up Nov. 7 with the Wildcats hosting Bridgeport. The top four teams in the final ECC standings will earn bids to the ECC Championships which will be hosted Nov. 19-20 by the overall No. 1 seed.

2021 ECC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Molloy (3) - 45
2. DAEMEN (4) - 42
3. Bridgeport - 36
4. Mercy - 28
5. Roberts Wesleyan - 18
6. Queens - 14
7. D'Youville - 12

( ) denotes first-place votes

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.

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