Match #22
Daemen Wildcats (16-5, 9-0 ECC) vs. Mercy Mavericks (12-5, 5-3 ECC)
Date: Saturday, November 5
Time: 12 PM
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. | Victory Gym
Live Stream: Via
ECC Network
Live Stats: Via
mercyathletics.com
Match #23
Daemen Wildcats (16-5, 9-0 ECC) vs. Bridgeport Purple Knights (13-17, 12-6 CACC)
Date: Sunday, November 6
Time: 12 PM
Location: Bridgeport, CT | Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium
Live Stream: Via
CACC Network
Live Stats: Via
ubknights.com
FINAL STRETCH
The Daemen University women's volleyball team wraps up the regular season this weekend with a pair of road games. The Wildcats finish up the East Coast Conference regular season on Saturday, Nov. 5 when they take on the regionally-ranked Mercy Mavericks. With a win over the Mavs, Daemen would finish with a perfect 10-0 regular season, marking the second-straight undefeated regular season, a first in school history. On Sunday, Nov. 6, the Wildcats play in the final game before the postseason, traveling to take on the Bridgeport Purple Knights in a noon game. This will be the second time this season that Daemen will face former their ECC foe, as the two teams met on Saturday, Sept. 10 at the East Region Clash in Springfield, Mass. earlier this season. The Wildcats swept the Purple Knights 3-0.
SPECTACULAR SEASON
First year head coach
Eli Irizarry's Wildcats enter this weekend's matches with a 16-5 record, and 9-0 in ECC play. Daemen is ranked third in the East Region, as released in the initial
Division II Regional Rankings on Wednesday afternoon. The Wildcats claimed the conference regular season title with their 3-1 win over Roberts Wesleyan last Wednesday, marking the second straight regular season championship and the fourth since 2016. Daemen has won 22 straight ECC regular season games since the end of the 2019 season, and owns a 62-5 record in conference sets since 2021. With the regular season championship, the Wildcats will host the ECC Tournament next Friday and Saturday, Nov. 11-12, at Lumsden Gym.
KILLIN' IT
On the season, Daemen is out-killing opponents 991 to 741, averaging 13.6 kills per set compared to 10.2 for their opponents. Five Wildcats have amassed triple-digit kills, with graduate student outside hitter
Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) leading the way with 193 kills (3.06 kills/set), and leads the team with 202 digs on the season (3.21 digs/set). Logan is just 56 kills away from surpassing 1,000 career kills, and is also 96 digs away from surpassing 1,000 career digs, and ranks second on the team in service aces (21). Senior outside hitter
Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) ranks second on the team with 186 kills on the season (3.51 kills/set), followed by junior outside hitter
Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) with 136 (2.31 kills/set), junior middle blocker
Vanessa Kuliga (Glenview, Ill.) with 121 (2.12 kills per set) and sophomore middle hitter
Amelia Armstrong (River Falls, Wisc.) with 109 (1.82 kills/set). Kuliga leads the team with a .296 hitting percentage, and also leads the team at the net, amassing 32 out of the Wildcats' 98 blocks on the season.
WEEKLY AWARDS
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.), and Logan have been named Player of the Week over five weeks, with Burns picking up the honors twice. Kuliga, junior libero
Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) and senior defensive specialist
Mickaley Monahan (Saline, Mich.) have earned Defensive Player of the Week awards four times (Kuliga has earned it twice). Junior setter
Olivia Alessi (East Aurora, N.Y.) 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.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats return to Lumsden Gymnasium to host the 2022 ECC Tournament. Top-seed Daemen will play the No. 4 seed on Friday, Nov. 11 at 5 PM, while the No. 2 seed and No. 3 seed will play in the following semifinal match at 7 PM. The winners will advance to the ECC Tournament Championship match on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 5 PM. The Wildcats are the reigning ECC Tournament champions.
SCOUTING THE MERCY MAVERICKS
The Mercy Mavericks are coming into Saturday's matchup with Daemen after being ranked No. 10 in the East Region on Wednesday. Through 17 games this season, Mercy has posted an 12-5 overall record, and a 5-3 record in the ECC. The Mavericks have lost conference matches to Molloy, Daemen and Queens, and are coming off of Saturday's 1-3 loss to the Knights. This season, Mercy has out-killed opponents 790-629 by an average of 12.5 kills per set compared to 10.0 from its' opponents. Senior outside hitter
Larissa Schneid leads the Mavericks' offense with 163 kills on the season, and ranks second in the ECC with 3.40 kills per set, behind only Daemen's
Maggie Burns (3.51). Junior middle blocker
Anyelainy Vizcaino Araujo just trails Schneid with 160 kills (2.81 kills/set). Senior
Julia Pomerleau tops the ECC with her .385 hitting percentage. Defensively, senior middle blocker
Stephanie Lankhorst leads the team at the net, totaling 48 of the team's 85 blocks on the year. Senior setter
Yarianne Gonzalez leads the league in assists per set with 9.89, with Daemen's
Dunja Masic ranking second behind her with 9.29 and
Olivia Alessi trailing Masic with 9.11 assists per set.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. MERCY
Series Record: 14-3 Daemen
Away Record: 5-3 Daemen
Current Streak: Daemen won 3
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Mercy 1 (25-15, 14-25, 25-22, 25-19) | Oct. 8, 2022, Amherst, N.Y.
SCOUTING THE BRIDGEPORT PURPLE KNIGHTS
A former member of the East Coast Conference, Bridgeport has opened up their first season in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference with a 13-17 overall record, and 12-6 in conference play. Sunday's match with Daemen will be the regular season finale for both the Wildcats and the Purple Knights. Eighth-year head coach
Gary Mullin fields a very young team this season, with just one upperclassman on the roster in junior libero
Haley Andrews. The Purple Knights have five freshmen and five sophomores on the team. On the season, Bridgeport has out-killed opponents 1333 to 1262, averaging 11.9 kills/set compared to 11.3 for their opponents. Three Purple Knights have amassed over 300 kills on the year, with sophomore outside hitter
Paola Hernandez leading the team offensively with 374 total kills to average 3.90 kills per set, while freshman middle blocker
Marissa Mullins just trails with 364 kills on the season (3.25 kills/set) followed by freshman middle blocker
Lucia Tomiello with 317 (2.83 kills/set). Sophomore
Jaden Drollinger handles the setting duties for Bridgeport, averaging 9.36 assists/set on 1,048 assists on the year, while adding 85 kills on the year and finishing second on the team with 43 blocks. Mullins leads the team at the net, totaling 90 of Bridgeport's 145 blocks on the season.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. BRIDGEPORT
Series Record: 10-10
At Bridgeport: 3-5 Bridgeport
At Neutral Site: 1-1
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Bridgeport 0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-17) | Sept. 10, 2022 | Springfield, Mass.
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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