Match #11
Daemen Wildcats (7-3, 1-0 ECC) vs. Queens Knights (5-8, 0-0 ECC)
Date: Saturday, September 24
Time: 1 PM
Location: Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gym
Live Stream: ECC Network
Live Stats: via
daemenathletics.com
Match #12
Daemen Wildcats (7-3, 1-0 ECC) vs. Molloy Lions (6-6, 0-0 ECC)
Date: Sunday, September 25
Time: 11 AM
Location: Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gym
Live Stream: ECC Network
Live Stats: via
daemenathletics.com
WELCOME TO CONFERENCE PLAY
The reigning East Coast Conference champs Daemen Wildcats opened up ECC play on Thursday with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-20) sweep over crosstown foe D'Youville, and continue their homestand at Lumsden Gym this weekend with a pair of ECC matches against Queens and Molloy. Daemen will host Queens on Saturday at 1 PM, and Molloy on Sunday at 11 AM. Thursday's win marked the 14th straight ECC victory for the Wildcats, dating back to November 2019. The three-set sweep also moved Daemen to 39-1 in sets during ECC regular season play since the start of the 2021 season.
DEFEND HOME COURT
With Thursday's win over D'Youville, the Wildcats are now 3-1 at home this season. Daemen went a perfect 10-0 at Lumsden in 2021. Since the 2018 season, the Wildcats have a 34-10 record at home, complete with 21 sweeps over opponents during that time frame. This season, Daemen's sole home loss was a 3-1 drop to Clarion in the Wildcat Den Classic in the second game of the year. Prior to that, the Wildcats had not lost at home since a five-set ECC heartbreaker to Bridgeport on November 10, 2019.
ACE, ACE BABY
As a team, Daemen has served up an impressive 73 aces through ten matches this season, averaging 2.1 aces per set. Junior setter
Dunja Masic (McHenry, Ill.) leads the team in aces with 14 on the year. Masic currently leads the ECC with .70 service aces per set. In last night's win, Masic and senior defensive specialist
Mickaley Monahan (Saline, Mich.) both finished with three aces a piece. Monahan ranks second on the team with 11 aces this year, with last night's performance tying a season-high. Junior libero
Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) ranks third on the team with nine aces. The Wildcats have out-aced opponents 73 to 54 this season.
SOLID START
The Wildcats are off to their best start since the 2019 season. Daemen has notched six sweeps on their 7-3 season, and have a .700 win percentage on the season. Senior outside hitter
Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) leads the team offensively with 85 kills on the season to average 3.27 kills/set. Graduate student
Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) is second on the Wildcats with 70 kills (2.80 kills/set), and is coming off a 12-kill effort against D'Youville on Thursday in which she earned her second double-double of the season. Through ten matches, Daemen is out-killing opponents 443 to 357 for a .214 hitting percentage, and averaging 13.0 kills per set compared to 10.5 for their opponents. In Thursday night's win over D'Youville, the Wildcats out-killed the Saints 39-26, finishing with a .234 hitting percentage compared to just .057 for D'Youville. Defensively, the Wildcats are out-digging opponents 16.9 to 15.0 in digs per set, and Daemen averages 11.26 assists/set compared to to 9.18 from their opponents.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats head east on I-90 to Rochester to face Roberts Wesleyan in a midweek conference matchup on on Wednesday, September 28. Tip-off is set for 7 PM.
QUEENS KNIGHTS SCOUTING REPORT
The Knights come into their ECC opener on Saturday with a 5-8 record on the year, with their five wins marking the most wins in a single season since 2017. Freshman outside hitter
Kendall Conrad leads the Queens offense, totaling 117 kills on the season for an average of 2.49 kills/set. Conrad picked up ECC rookie of the week honors in week 3. Senior middle blocker
Alexis Deodat just trails Conrad with 115 kills this season (2.45 kills/set), while this week's ECC Player of the Week sophomore
Christina Franco has 97 kills (2.77 kills/set) and five double-doubles. Defensively, freshman middle blocker
Lindsay Osterhoudt leads the Knights with 36 blocks on the year to average .97 blocks per set, with freshman blocker
Taylor Smith adding 28 blocks this season. Queens will face Daemen on Saturday at 1 PM, then travel across town to take on D'Youville on Sunday.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. QUEENS
Series Record: 12-4 Daemen
At Daemen: 7-1 Daemen
Current Streak: Daemen won 6
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Queens 0 (25-7, 25-12, 25-18) | Oct. 22, 2021, Amherst, N.Y.
MOLLOY LIONS SCOUTING REPORT
The 6-6 Molloy Lions come to Lumsden Gym on Sunday after facing D'Youville on Saturday night. The Lions have matched up evenly with their opponents throughout the season, narrowly out-killing them 431 to 424 while averaging 10.8 kills a game. Molloy is led offensively by junior outside hitter
Kiarra Roth, who is the only Lion to have triple-digit kills on the season (105) and averages 2.92 kills/set.
Lucy Vazquez and
Kathleen Doherty have both played in all 12 matches for Molloy, and add 73 and 71 kills, respectively. Freshman
Canyen Rodriguez and sophomore
Julia Zalta have split the setting duties for the Lions, with Rodriguez tallying 6.06 assists per set and Zalta coming out with 4.83 assists/set. Molloy has out-blocked its opponents 68.5 to 56 through the year, with
Kaitlyn Jordan and Vazquez combining for 48 blocks.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. MOLLOY
Series Record: 14-5 Daemen
At Daemen: 10-1 Daemen
Current Streak: Daemen won 3
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Molloy 0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-20) | Nov. 19, 2021, Amherst N.Y.
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