Geoff M Schneider

Three Matches On Tap For Wildcats This Week

10/17/2023 3:18:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Daemen University women's volleyball team will play a trio of matches this week, starting first with a road match against the Gannon Golden Knights on Wednesday at 6 PM for their second to last road trip of the regular season. Boasting a 16-4 overall record and a perfect 6-0 record in conference action, the Wildcats will return to Lumsden Gymnasium this weekend opening up the second half of East Coast Conference play with a pair of matches against Mercy and St. Thomas Aquinas. Daemen hosts the Mavericks on Saturday at noon, and will turn around 23 hours later to play the Spartans on Sunday at 11 AM.

LAST WEEK
The Wildcats won both matches last week, first closing out the first half of ECC play on Thursday night with a 3-0 win over D'Youville. A pair of Wildcats recorded double-digit kills in the victory, with freshman phenom Charlotte Koerber (Munich, Germany) posting her ninth double-double of the season with a match-high 11 kills and 11 digs, and fifth year senior Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) posting 10 kills on the day. Senior libero Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) totaled 12 digs on the day, while senior setter Olivia Alessi (East Aurora, N.Y.) totaling 31 assists while running the Wildcat offense to a 42-hit performance. The Daemen defense only allowed D'Youville to have 21 kills on the day. On Saturday, the Wildcats extended their win streak to nine while remaining undefeated at Lumsden Gymnasium with a 3-0 victory over Saint Rose. Daemen out-hit the Golden Knights 43 to 19 and posted a .351 hitting percentage and were led offensively by Koerber, who posted 12 kills while hitting at a .455 clip, and senior right side Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) who totaled 10 kills and three assisted blocks. Senior middle Vanessa Kuliga (Glenview, Ill.) had seven kills and a season-high seven assisted blocks.

ECC DOMINANCE
With their win over D'Youville on Thursday, the Wildcats extended their win streak to 29 straight regular season conference matches that dates back to Nov. 10, 2019. Daemen sits atop the ECC as the only undefeated team in the league.

ECC WEEKLY AWARDS
For the fifth week this season, the Wildcats were represented in the ECC weekly awards. Burns was named the ECC Player of the Week for the second straight week after posting 19 kills (3.17 kills/set) with a .298 hitting percentage along with 14 digs, five blocks, 32 receptions, one ace and three assists in Daemen's 2-0 week. Brundage earned the ECC Defensive Player of the Week for the second straight week, and fourth time this season, after totaling 35 digs (5.83 digs/set), seven assists, two aces, a kill and 23 receptions with zero errors. For the fourth time this season, Koerber was named the ECC Rookie of the Week after leading the Wildcats offensively with 23 kills (3.83 kills/set) for a .455 hitting percentage along with 19 digs (3.17 digs/set), four aces, 17 receptions, three assists and her ninth double-double of the year. The Wildcats have earned weekly awards for five out of a possible six weeks this season, including sweeping the awards twice.

STAT CATS
The Wildcats lead the ECC with 930 total kills, averaging 13.48 kills per set for a league-high .237 hitting percentage. Daemen leads all ECC teams with 12.10 assists/set (835 total assists), 16.28 digs per set with 1,123 total digs, and 159 total service aces on the year. Koerber ranks second in the ECC in both kills per set (3.87) and total kills with 232, and leads the league with 0.58 service aces per set. Brundage leads the league with 316 total digs for a league-high 5.10 digs per set. Giraud ranks second in the ECC with a .368 hitting percentage, and ranks fifth in the ECC with 200 total kills. Amelia Armstrong (River Falls, Wisc.) ranks fifth in the ECC with a .286 hitting percentage. Masic ranks second in the ECC with 0.57 aces per set, and third in the league with 8.84 assists per set.

UP NEXT
Daemen will make the short trek eastbound on I-90 on Wednesday, Oct. 25 for a midweek match against Roberts Wesleyan at 7 PM in Rochester.

THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
After an impressive 2022 campaign that ended with a 29-6 overall record, an Atlantic Region Championship and a trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, Gannon comes into Wednesday's match with a 15-3 record and a 7-1 record in PSAC play. The Golden Knights are riding a six match win streak after their sole conference loss to Clarion in late September. On the year, Gannon averages 13.1 kills per set, and are led offensively by junior outside hitter Journey Blevins with 297 kills (4.64 kills/set), who transferred to Gannon from Findlay after being named an AVCA Second Team All-American last season. Freshman middle blocker Lauren Atwell and junior right side Hailey Koch lead the Golden Knights at the net with 53 and 52 total blocks on the year, respectively.

THE SERIES
Gannon owns a 15-match win streak over the Wildcats, including last year's 3-1 victory over the Wildcats at Lumsden Gym. Daemen picked up the first win between the two teams in 1998, but has lost the last 15.

THE MAVERICKS
Mercy put together a solid 13-7 season with a 6-4 conference record in 2022, with their campaign ending in the ECC Tournament after falling to Daemen 3-0 in the semifinals. The Mavs come into Saturday's match with a 9-3 overall record and a 4-2 ECC record, with their only two conference losses coming in back-to-back matches against Queens and Daemen. Mercy is tied for the fewest matches played this season (12), but they rank second behind the Wildcats with 12.74 kills per set and average 16.5 points per set. Senior outside hitter Larissa Schneid, who earned First Team All-ECC in 2022, leads the team with 157 kills, averaging 3.74 kills/set which ranks third in the league. 2022 Second Team All-ECC senior setter Yarianne Gonzalez leads the ECC with 9.90 assists per set. Graduate student middle blocker Julia Pomerleau, who earned Second Team All-ECC last season, leads the Mavs at the net with 34 of their 60 total blocks and ranks fourth in the league with 0.81 blocks/set.

SERIES HISTORY
In the ten year history between these two programs, Daemen owns a 17-3 all-time record over Mercy. The Wildcats have won six straight matches against the Mavs, with the last coming in a 3-0 fashion at Mercy on Oct. 7.

THE SPARTANS
Playing in their first season, St. Thomas Aquinas comes into the year with a 3-9 record and 1-5 in ECC play. STAC picked up their first win as a program against Bowie State on Friday, Sept. 8 in a 3-2 thriller, and earned their second win at home on Sept. 15 with a 3-1 win against Lincoln. After dropping four straight matches, the Spartans earned their first ever ECC win with a 3-1 victory over D'Youville on Oct. 7, but since then has lost 3-0, 3-1 to Daemen and Mercy. 6-foot-1 junior right side Jaizahir Marrero-George leads the league with 4.49 kills per set, and leads STAC on the season with 193 total kills. She is the only Spartan to tally triple-digit kills this season. Junior setter Lea Venghaus ranks fourth in the ECC with 0.56 service aces per set on the year.

SERIES HISTORY
This marks the second time that Daemen and St. Thomas Aquinas meet on the court. Daemen topped the Spartans 3-0 in the first meeting on Oct. 7.

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.

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