Match #21
Daemen Wildcats (15-5, 8-0 ECC) vs. Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks (3-16, 1-5 ECC)
Date: Wednesday, October 26
Time: 6 PM
Location: Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
Watch: ECC Network
Stats: via
daemenwildcats.com
HOME, SWEET HOME
The Daemen University women's volleyball team returns home to Lumsden Gymnasium for their final regular season home game on Wednesday evening. The Cats host longtime foe Roberts Wesleyan in the Thruway Rivalry at 6 PM. After splitting the week last week with non-conference losses to Gannon and Saint Rose, the Wildcats got back on track with weekend wins over Queens and Molloy. Daemen enters the East Coast Conference matchup with a 15-5 record and a perfect 8-0 through conference play. Roberts Wesleyan comes in with a 3-16 record, and 1-5 in ECC matches. The Cats have won 21-straight regular season conference matches dating back to the end of the 2019 season and own a 59-5 record in sets during ECC regular season play. Daemen is riding a 15-game win streak against Roberts, which marks the longest active streak for the Wildcats.
REGULAR SEASON TITLE CHASE
The Wildcats are one win away from taking home their second straight regular season conference title, and fourth since 2016. With a win over the Redhawks on Wednesday, Daemen will earn the top seed in the ECC and will host the ECC Tournament at Lumsden Gymnasium on November 11-12. As of Tuesday, the conference standings are as follows:
DAEMEN (8-0), 8 ECC games played
MERCY (4-2), 6 ECC games played
QUEENS (4-3), 7 ECC games played
MOLLOY (4-3), 7 ECC games played
ROBERTS WESLEYAN (1-5), 6 ECC games played
D'YOUVILLE (0-8), 8 ECC games played
THANK YOU, SENIORS
Wednesday night marks Senior Night for five Wildcat players. Daemen is celebrating the final regular season home game for outside hitter
Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.), defensive specialist
Mickaley Monahan (Saline, Mich.), outside hitter
Jordan Martin (Fort Wayne, Ind.), middle blocker
Loren Alberts (Huntley, Ill.) and middle blocker
Shelby Kersten (Alden, N.Y.). Logan, a five-year standout for the Wildcats, was the first Daemen player in program history to be named ECC Preseason Player of the Year coming into the 2022 season after earning AVCA All-Region honors in her senior season. In her graduate student year, Logan has played in 19 of Daemen's 20 matches this season, and ranks second on the team in kills with 180 on the season, averaging 3.05 kills per set for a .177 hitting percentage, and also ranks second on the team in digs with 190 (3.22 digs/set) on the season as well as service aces (20). She is 69 kills away from her 1,000th career kill. A 5-3 four-year player, Monahan has been a staple in the Daemen defense. In her senior season, Monahan has already tallied a career-high 164 digs to average 2.88 digs per set, while ranking fourth on the team in service aces with 17. She currently totals 344 digs (1.65 digs/set) over her Daemen career. Martin has played for the Wildcats for the last three seasons after transferring to Daemen from the University of Southern Indiana, and has made the most of her senior season this year. The 5-10 outside hitter totals 64 kills (2.67 kills/set) on the season, the most in a single season in her collegiate career. Martin has tallied two double-digit kill games this season, putting up 10 kills against Roberts Wesleyan on Sept. 28 and 10 kills against Queens on Oct. 22. Coming off an injury, Alberts has worked her way back to return to the court in her senior year. Over the course of her four year career at Daemen, the 5-10 middle blocker has totaled 231 kills to average 1.48 kills per set for a .290 hitting percentage. At the net, Alberts has tallied 84 total blocks, averaging 0.5 blocks/set, and added 70 digs. Kersten has appeared in 22 matches over the course of her four-year Daemen career, with her senior season being her most productive. In her senior campaign, Kersten has amassed 20 out of her 43 career kills, averaging 1.25 kills per set on the season. She totals 17 total blocks, with 11 of those coming this season. Logan, Monahan, Martin, Alberts and Kersten all played a part in Daemen's first ever East Region championship in 2021, and have helped the Wildcats to their longest conference win streak in program history.
WEEKLY HONORS
Daemen players have been represented in the ECC weekly honors for the last seven weeks. On Monday, junior middle blocker
Vanessa Kuliga (Glenview, Ill.) picked up her second ECC Defensive Player of the Week award after totaling 13 blocks (0.87 blocks/set), 26 kills (1.73 kills/set), 13 digs and six service aces over four matches from October 17 through 23. She became the fourth Wildcat to earn Defensive Player of the Week this season. Junior setter
Olivia Alessi (East Aurora, N.Y.) earned her third Setter of the Week honor on Monday. The 5-4 setter tallied 157 assists (10.46 assists/set) over four matches, including a season-high 45 assist performance against Queens on Saturday. Alessi earned her third and fourth double-doubles (assists-digs) of the season, and added 45 digs over the course of four matches to average 3.0 digs/set. She added 13 kills for a .286 hitting percentage, as well as totaling five service aces over the week.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats are off over the weekend, and return to the final weekend of regular season action next Saturday, Nov. 5 and Sunday, Nov. 6. Daemen wraps up ECC regular season play when they travel to play Mercy in a noon matchup, and they face former ECC foe Bridgeport in the final game of the regular season on Sunday at noon.
ROBERTS WESLEYAN REDHAWKS SCOUTING REPORT
Roberts enters Wednesday's action on a four-game losing streak, with the Redhawks coming off a 1-3 loss to Mercy on Saturday. On the season, head coach
Doug Porterfield's Redhawks have been out-killed 843 to 603, with Roberts' opponents averaging 12.4 kills/set compared to 8.9 for Roberts. Offensively, sophomore outside hitter
Sydney Yanak is the only Redhawk to notch triple-digit kills, leading RWC with 143 kills on the season (2.17 kills/set). Freshman outside hitter
Olivia Price and junior right side
Laura Amaya have 93 and 91 kills, respectively. Defensively, sophomore middle hitter
Celine Malosa leads the team with 41 blocks on the season, while senior middle hitter
Charlotte Orgill totals 32 blocks.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. ROBERTS WESLEYAN
Series Record: 34-20 Daemen
Home Record: 16-9 Daemen
Conference Record: 27-14 Daemen
Current Streak: Daemen won 15
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Roberts Wesleyan 0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-22) | Sept. 28, 2022, Amherst, N.Y.
Daemen University 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.
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