AMHERST, N.Y. -- Daemen University's reigning ECC Player of the Year
Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) was named the
2023 East Coast Conference Women's Volleyball Preseason Player of the Year. Burns' selection comes following a vote of the league's seven head coaches, and marks the second straight season that a Daemen women's volleyball player picked up the preseason conference honor.
Sam Logan was voted the 2022 ECC Preseason Player of the Year.
The top offensive weapon returning for the Wildcats in 2023, Burns put together a standout senior season in which she picked up First Team All-ECC and All-Region honors by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She was the second straight and third all-time Daemen player to be named the ECC Women's Volleyball Player of the Year, joining
Caitlyn Meyer (2021) and
Ashley Drzymala (2016).
An integral part of Daemen's offense and defense on the court, Burns led the league in kills per set (3.33) and ranked second on the team in total kills (233) while finishing with a .217 hitting percentage on the year. The outside hitter ranked third on the team with 226 digs (3.23 digs per set), and ranked fourth on the team with 24 service aces. She tallied nine double-doubles (kills-digs), recorded double-digit kills in 14 matches of the 21 matches she played in, and double-digit digs in 12 matches.
Burns led the Wildcats to their second straight ECC Tournament and regular season titles in 2022, and helped Daemen put together an undefeated 10-0 record through ECC play for the second straight season. The Wildcats were voted No. 1 for the second straight year in the ECC Preseason Coaches' Poll, released on Wednesday.
Daemen's
27-match regular season gets underway Labor Day weekend when the Wildcats head to Pennsylvania to take part in the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament hosted by Clarion University. Daemen will host the
2023 Wildcat Den Classic presented by Elliott Hotels the weekend of Sept. 8-9, before heading to Long Island, N.Y. the weekend of Sept. 15-16 to take part in the Adelphi Volleyball Tournament. The Wildcats begin defense of their ECC title when they open conference play at Queens College and Molloy University the weekend of Sept. 23-24. Daemen will play five of its final six matches in the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium, where the Wildcats are 20-2 over the past two seasons and have gone 41-11 since the 2018 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.
