AMHERST, N.Y. --
Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) and
Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) of the Daemen University women's volleyball team have earned East Coast Conference Player of the Week awards after leading the Wildcats to a pair of victories in the final two regular season matches of the season. The ECC announced the awards in the
weekly sport report, on Monday afternoon and are for competitions taking place Oct. 31 through Nov. 6. Burns was named ECC Player of the Week, and Brundage earned ECC Defensive Player of the Week.
Burns, a 5-9 senior outside hitter, takes home Player of the Week for the third time this season. She led all Wildcat hitters in the final regular season matches of the season this weekend, totaling 27 kills (3.38 kills per set) over two matches for a .260 hitting percentage. She also added 25 total digs (3.13 digs per set), two assisted blocks and three service aces. In Saturday's 3-2 win over Mercy that sealed Daemen's second-straight undefeated ECC regular season, Burns earned her eighth double-double (kills-digs) of the season, knocking down 17 kills and a season-high 19 digs.
After her stellar weekend, Burns is now tied with
Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) for first on the team in kills, surpassing 200 kills this weekend to sit at 213 going into the postseason. She leads the ECC with 3.49 kills per set on the season, and ranks third in the league in total kills. She ranks third on the team in digs on the season with 197 for an average of 3.23 digs per set, and trails only Logan and Brundage in total digs.
This is the third time Burns has been named ECC Player of the Week, and the sixth week that a Daemen player has earned the award. She took home the same award on Oct. 17 and Sept. 12 this season. Logan,
Kate Ryan (Buffalo, N.Y.) and
Vanessa Kuliga (Glenview, Ill.) also earned Player of the Week throughout the season.
Brundage returned to the Daemen lineup this weekend for the first time since Oct. 18 in the Wildcats' non-conference loss to Gannon. The 5-5 junior libero totaled 42 digs over two matches to average 5.25 digs per set. Brundage finished with a season-high 24 digs in Saturday's match against Mercy, averaging 4.8 digs per set with zero errors. She added four assists and one ace in the final ECC match of the season which sent the Wildcats home with a perfect 10-0 record in conference.
On the season, Brundage has tallied a team-high 240 digs. She averages 3.81 digs per set, which ranks third in the ECC.
This is the second time this season that Brundage takes home ECC Defensive Player of the Week. She previously earned the award on Sept. 12. The Wildcats have been named Defensive Player of the Week five times this season, with Brundage earning the honors twice, Kuliga winning it twice, and senior defensive specialist
Mickaley Monahan (Saline, Mich.) earning the award once.
The Wildcats have won both Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week four times this season, with the duo of Burns and Brundage taking home the honors twice together. Daemen has been named in the ECC weekly awards in eight weeks out of a possible 11.
Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium this weekend when they play host to the ECC Championship Tournament. The top-ranked Wildcats will play four-seed Mercy in the semifinals on Friday at 5 PM, and if they win, they will face the winner of Queens vs. Molloy in the ECC Championship match on Saturday at 5 PM.
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.
