AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Daemen University women's volleyball team is ranked third in the East Region in the first NCAA Division II Regional Rankings on Wednesday afternoon, as announced released by the regional advisory committee for games completed by Oct. 30. The Wildcats were one of ten teams in the region to be listed as under consideration last week. The East Region consists of the top teams from the East Coast Conference, the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and the Northeast-10 Conference, and the regional rankings are used to determine at-large bids to the East Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament following conference tournaments at the end of the season. 

American International sits atop the East Region with a 19-2 regional record. Bentley (18-2) ranks second, and Daemen sits in third (15-4) with Adelphi (18-3) fourth and Saint Anselm (14-6) fifth. Thomas Jefferson (19-6) is ranked sixth, Southern New Hampshire (11-4) seventh, while Molloy (13-8), New Haven (13-6) and Mercy (12-5) round out the poll. 

In head coach Eli Irizarry's first season at the helm, the Wildcats have amassed a 15-4 record in the region, and a 16-5 record on the season. Daemen clinched their second-straight East Coast Conference regular season title with a 3-1 win over Roberts Wesleyan last week. The Wildcats have won 22 straight ECC regular season games since the end of the 2019 season. Daemen has out-killed opponents 991 to 741 on the season, averaging 13.6 kills per set compared to 10.2 for their opponents. Five Wildcats have recorded triple-digit kills this year, with graduate student outside hitter Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) leading the way offensively with 193 kills (3.06 kills per set), and senior outside hitter Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) just trailing Logan with 186. Burns leads the conference with 3.51 kills/set. Junior outside hitter Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) totals 136 (2.31 kills/set), followed by junior middle blockerVanessa Kuliga (Glenview, Ill.) with 121 (2.12 kills/set) and sophomore middle Amelia Armstrong (River Falls, Wisc.) at 109 (1.82 kills/set). Kuliga leads the team at the net, totaling 32 of Daemen's 98 blocks on the year. Junior setter Olivia Alessi (East Aurora, N.Y.) averages 9.31 assists per set on the season. 

The Wildcats have been well-represented in the ECC weekly awards, with at least one Daemen player earning weekly honors for seven straight weeks. Four Wildcats (Burns, Kuliga, Kate Ryan (Buffalo, N.Y.), Logan) have been named Player of the Week over five weeks, with Burns picking up the honors twice. Kuliga, Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) and Mickaley Monahan (Saline, Mich.) have earned Defensive Player of the Week awards four times (Kuliga has earned it twice). Alessi has been named Setter of the Week three times, while fellow junior setter Dunja Masic (McHenry, Ill.) has earned it once. Freshman outside hitter Nahirka Malpica (Caguas, P.R.) was the sole Daemen player to earn Rookie of the Week this season. 

Daemen wraps up the regular season this weekend with a pair of matches on the road. The Wildcats take on Mercy in their final regular season conference match on Saturday, Nov. 5, then take on former ECC-foe Bridgeport on Sunday, Nov. 6 in their final match before hosting the conference tournament on Nov. 11-12. 
 

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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.

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