Top-Seeded Wildcats Host ECC Tournament This Weekend

11/16/2023 2:34:00 PM

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

TOURNAMENT TIME
The top-seeded Daemen University women's volleyball team looks to defend their back-to-back East Coast Conference Tournament title as they host the 2023 ECC Championship Tournament at Lumsden Gymnasium this weekend. The Wildcats will face the fourth seeded Queens Knights in the first ECC Semifinal match on Friday evening at 5 PM. The winner will advance to the championship game on Saturday at 5 PM where they will face the winner of the second semifinal match between second-seeded Molloy and third-seeded Mercy. Tickets are required for entry and can be purchased through the ECC Online Ticket Portal.

3X REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
The Wildcats earned their third consecutive, and fifth overall, ECC regular season title on Saturday, Nov. 4 with their 3-0 sweep over Queens, and finished off the regular season with an undefeated conference record for the third straight season. Since Nov. 10, 2019, the Wildcats have won 35 consecutive ECC regular season matches.

POSTSEASON TIME
Four teams remain in the quest for the 2023 ECC Tournament title. The Wildcats are looking to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season, and fifth all-time. With their 3-0 victory over Molloy in the 2022 ECC Championship match, Daemen became the first team to repeat as ECC tournament champions for the first time since Bridgeport's four consecutive ECC Championship victories from 2012-15. The ECC Tournament champion earns an automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division II Championship tournament.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Two Wildcats earned major awards and six Daemen players earned All-ECC honors for their outstanding play in the 2023 season. Senior libero Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) was named the 2023 ECC Libero of the Year after leading the league all season in digs (441) and digs per set (5.01). Named ECC Rookie of the Week six times this season, freshman outside hitter Charlotte Koerber (Munich, Germany) earned 2023 ECC Rookie of the Year after a stellar freshman campaign where she tallied team-highs in kills (287) and kills per set (3.54). Koerber is the first Wildcat to be named Rookie of the Year since Bailey Dolegowski earned ECC Co-Rookie of the Year in 2016. Fifth year outside hitter Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.), senior right side Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.), Brundage and Koerber were all named to the ECC First Team, senior setter Dunja Masic (McHenry, Ill.) earned ECC Second Team honors, and senior middle blocker Vanessa Kuliga (Glenview, Ill.) picked up ECC Honorable Mention. The Wildcats placed six on the All-ECC teams for the third straight season.

DAEMEN IN THE ECC TOURNAMENT
The Wildcats are making their third straight and sixth overall appearance in the ECC Championship tournament. After going 13-1 in conference play to win their first ECC regular season title, Daemen made its first ever ECC Tournament appearance in 2016 but fell to New York Institute of Technology in the finals. The Wildcats returned to host the tournament in 2018 and beat Molloy 3-1 for their first ever ECC Tournament title. Daemen lost to Bridgeport in the 2019 semifinals, and the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wildcats hosted the tournament in 2021 and 2022 and hoisted the trophy both years, topping Bridgeport 3-2 in the '21 championship for their second title, and beating Molloy 3-0 last season for their third tournament championship. The Wildcats own a 7-2 overall record in ECC Tournament matches.

THE WILDCATS (22-5)
Daemen comes into the ECC Tournament with a 22-5 overall record after posting a perfect 12-0 record in conference play for the third straight season. The Wildcats have won 20-plus games for the last three years, and enter the postseason riding a six-match win streak with their last loss of the season on Oct. 18 in a five-set thriller at Gannon. Daemen leads the league with 1,643 kills, averaging 17.3 kills per set for a league-high .234 hitting percentage. Daemen leads all ECC teams with 12.27 assists/set (1,166 total assists), 16.17 digs per set (1,536 total), and 218 total service aces (2.29 aces/set) on the year. Koerber ranks fourth in the ECC in kills per set (3.54) and total kills (287), seventh with a .262 hitting percentage and ranks fourth in the league with 0.49 service aces per set. Brundage leads the league with 441 total digs for a league-high 5.01 digs per set. Giraud ranks second in the ECC with a .358 hitting percentage, fifth in the ECC with 265 total kills and seventh with 3.05 kills/set. Burns ranks eighth in the league with 2.75 kills/set, Amelia Armstrong (River Falls, Wisc.) ranks eighth in the ECC with a .255 hitting percentage, and Kuliga ranks sixth with a .266 hitting percentage. Masic leads the ECC with 0.56 aces per set, and ranks fifth in the league with 8.22 assists per set. Alessi ranks eighth in the league with 6.27 assists/set. Daemen has totaled 15 3-0 sweeps over opponents this season, with nine of those sweeps coming against conference opponents this season. The Wildcats were picked atop the 2023 ECC preseason coaches' poll. Head coach Eli Irizarry is in his second season at the helm of the team.

REGIONAL RANKINGS
The Wildcats are ranked fourth in the East Region in the NCAA Division II Regional Rankings, as released by the regional advisory committee through games completed by November 12, 2023. The East Region consists of the top teams from the ECC, 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.

THE KNIGHTS (13-10)
Fourth-seeded Queens returns to the postseason for the second straight season and the third time since 2008. The Knights posted their best record in 15 years with a 13-10 overall record and going 7-5 in conference play. A trio of Knights earned All-ECC honors this season, with junior setter Despina Boudouris, sophomore outside hitter Kendall Conrad and junior outside hitter Christina Franco all being named to the Second Team. Boudouris ranks second in the league with 9.24 assists per set. Conrad ranks third in the ECC in total kills (300) and sixth in kills per set (3.37), while Franco ranks fifth with 3.15 digs per set and ranks 10th in the ECC in kills per set (2.68). Each Conrad and Franco average 0.42 aces per set on the year. Senior right side Alexis Deodat averages 0.83 blocks per set with 52 total blocks on the year.

SERIES RECORD
The Wildcats have won the last 10 matches over Queens and own a 16-4 record over the Knights. Daemen swept the Knights in both matches this season.

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 University women's volleyball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWVB.

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