Wildcats Host D'Youville In Regular Season Finale On Thursday

11/7/2023 4:13:00 PM

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

REGULAR SEASON FINALE
The Daemen University women's volleyball team closes out the regular season on Thursday as they host crosstown rival D'Youville in a 6 PM match. The Wildcats come into Thursday's match with a 21-5 overall record and a perfect 11-0 record in East Coast Conference play, while the Saints come in with a 7-17 record and 3-8 ECC record. Daemen clinched their third consecutive ECC regular season title on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Queens.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
The Wildcats went 2-0 on the weekend with wins over Queens and Molloy in their final weekend of regular season play. Daemen cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Knights on Saturday to clinch the ECC regular season title for the third straight year after out-hitting Queens 48 to 19. Three Wildcats scored in the double-digits as junior Kate Ryan (Buffalo, N.Y.) led the way with 11 kills on 19 attacks for a .421 hitting percentage, while seniors Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) and Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) contributed with 10 kills a piece. The Sunday match against Molloy was electric from start to finish as the Wildcats outlasted the Lions comeback to win it 3-2. Burns needed just one kill to tally her 1,000th career kill in the match, and finished with 15 on the day. Ryan totaled 16 kills, freshman Charlotte Koerber (Munich, Germany) finished with 10 kills and 10 digs, and Giraud totaled 13 kills. Senior libero Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) posted a match-high 24 digs against the Lions on Sunday.

WEEKLY AWARDS
Three Wildcats picked up ECC weekly awards for Week 10. Burns was named the ECC Player of the Week for the third time this season, Brundage earned ECC Defensive Player of the Week for the sixth week, and Koerber was named the ECC Rookie of the Week for the sixth time this season, marking her eighth weekly award of 2023. The Wildcats have been included in nine of the 10 weekly conference awards.

THANK YOU, SENIORS
Daemen will be honoring four seniors and Team IMPACT player Ava Hackett before Thursday's match.

Olivia Alessi -- A two-time All-ECC honoree, Alessi was named the 2022 ECC Co-Setter of the Year and has picked up honorable mention AVCA All-Region honors in each of the last two seasons. Over her three year Daemen career as the Wildcats' setter, Alessi ranks sixth all-time in Daemen program history with 1,944 total assists and second in assists per set (8.53 assists/set), while totaling 571 total digs (2.5 digs/set), 83 service aces and 95 kills. She has played in 68 matches and 228 total sets. This season, Alessi ranks second on the team with 376 assists (6.37 assists/set) and 117 digs (1.98 digs/set) along with 19 aces in 18 matches on the year.

Maggie Burns -- The 2022 ECC Player of the Year, Burns earned First Team All-ECC honors in 2022 and Second Team All-ECC honors in 2021, while earning AVCA and D2CCA All-Region honors and CSC Academic All-District in 2022. Burns transferred to Daemen in 2020 after a successful 300+ kill freshman season at Urbana University, and has made quite the splash as a Wildcat. She became the 10th player in Daemen history to total 1,000 kills on Sunday, totaling 1,014 kills (2.70 kills/set), 1,051 digs (2.80 digs/set), 83 blocks and 108 aces. In 2023, she ranks third on the team with 202 total kills (2.81 kills/set) and 195 digs (2.71 digs/set), and has 23 aces and 17 total blocks.

Vanessa Kuliga -- Kuliga earned First Team All-ECC, AVCA All-Region and D2CCA All-Region honors in 2022. In her four year Daemen career, she has amassed 559 total kills (1.91 kills/set) for a .301 career hitting percentage, 80 service aces, 207 digs and 176 total blocks. She has played in 87 matches and 292 sets over her career. This season, Kuliga totals 150 kills (1.69 kills/set) for a .270 hitting percentage with a team-high 49 blocks along with 62 digs and 24 aces.

Dunja Masic -- In her four year Daemen career, Masic has totaled 1,310 assists, averaging 8.56 assists per set, 264 digs, 77 aces, 75 kills and 23 total blocks over 52 matches and 153 total sets. She's in the midst of her most successful season yet, totaling 571 assists (8.28 assists/set) over 20 matches with 99 digs, 38 aces, 25 kills and 11 total blocks.

STAT CATS
The Wildcats lead the ECC with 1,246 total kills, averaging 13.54 kills per set for a league-high .231 hitting percentage. Daemen leads all ECC teams with 12.25 assists/set (1,127 total assists), 16.21 digs per set with 1,491 total digs, and 206 total service aces (2.24 aces/set) on the year. Koerber ranks second in the ECC in kills per set (3.62), fourth in total kills with 282, seventh with a .266 hitting percentage and ranks fifth in the league with 0.49 service aces per set. Brundage leads the league with 429 total digs for a league-high 5.05 digs per set. Giraud ranks second in the ECC with a .348 hitting percentage, fifth in the ECC with 252 total kills and seventh with 3.0 kills/set. Burns ranks eighth in the league with 2.81 kills/set, Amelia Armstrong (River Falls, Wisc.) ranks eighth in the ECC with a .255 hitting percentage. Kuliga ranks sixth with a .270 hitting percentage. Masic leads the ECC with 0.55 aces per set, and ranks fifth in the league with 8.28 assists per set. Alessi ranks eighth in the league with 6.37 assists/set.

UP NEXT
The top-seeded Wildcats will host the ECC Tournament at Lumsden Gymnasium on Nov. 17-18.

THE SAINTS
D'Youville comes into Thursday night with a 7-17 overall record and a 4-8 record in ECC play. D'Youville is averaging 10.2 kills per set, and are led offensively by freshman Madeline O'Brien who leads the league with 340 total kills and ranks fifth in the ECC with 3.54 kills per set. Senior Emma Wlowstowski ranks seventh in the league with 3.14 digs per set on the year. Junior libero Samantha Killane ranks second in the league behind only Masic with 0.53 aces per set for a league-high 50 aces.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats own a 9-0 record over D'Youville dating back to 1999.

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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