Women's Volleyball Returns To Lumsden Gymnasium For Midweek Matchup With Roberts

9/26/2023 12:29:00 PM

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

AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Daemen University women's volleyball team returns to Lumsden Gymnasium on Wednesday for the first time since hosting the Wildcat Den Classic on Sept. 8-9 as they play host to longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan in a midweek East Coast Conference match. The Wildcats enter Wednesday's game riding a three-game win streak with a 10-4 record and 2-0 record through ECC play, while Roberts is 4-7 overall and 1-1 in ECC matches after dropping Sunday's home match to Mercy.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
The Wildcats posted a perfect 3-0 weekend on the road. Daemen first topped Southern Connecticut State 3-0 on Friday night in the final match before opening up conference play. Freshman Charlotte Koerber (Munich, Germany) led the Cats offensively with 16 kills, while fifth year Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) earned a double-double with 14 kills and 16 digs in the win. Daemen began ECC play on Saturday with a dominant 3-0 performance over Queens with Koerber and senior Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) leading the team with 18 and 10 kills, respectively. Koerber tallied her seventh double-double with 11 digs. The Wildcats survived a late Molloy comeback on Sunday afternoon to top the Lions 3-2 in a five-set thriller. Giraud led all players on the floor with a career-high 24 kills for a .452 hitting percentage in the win. Koerber and Burns each notched double-doubles, with Koerber's 16 kills and 13 digs and Burns' 15 kills and 11 digs. Senior libero Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) totaled 21 digs in the win.

1,000 CLUB
In Sunday's hard fought victory, senior setter Dunja Masic (McHenry, Ill.) finished with a career-high 53 assists and 14 digs for her first double-double of the season. While leading the Wildcat offense to 69 kills for a .244 hitting percentage in her career-high performance, Masic crossed the 1K club, notching her 1,000th career assist in the match. She leads the team with 301 assists on the season to average 8.14 assists per set, fifth-most in the ECC. Masic ranks second on the team with 19 service aces, averaging 0.51 aces/set.

ECC DOMINANCE
The Wildcats extended their conference win streak to 25 straight matches with their Sunday afternoon win over Molloy. The back-to-back defending ECC champions haven't lost a regular season conference match since Nov. 10, 2019.

WEEKLY AWARDS
Daemen swept the ECC weekly awards for the first time since week five of the 2022 season, with Giraud, Brundage, Masic and Koerber all taking home weekly honors. Giraud was named the ECC Player of the Week after a 46 kill weekend, earning her first career ECC weekly award. Brundage was named the Defensive Player of the Week for the second straight week after totaling 52 digs for the Wildcats. Masic picked up her first award of the season, earning the Setter of the Week after posting 74 assists and 19 digs on the weekend. Koerber took home her fourth straight ECC weekly award, earning ECC Rookie of the Week for the second time this season after leading the Wildcats offensively in two of the three matches for 50 kills and 30 digs.

THE REDHAWKS
Roberts Wesleyan had a tough 2022 campaign, finishing the season with a 4-19 overall record and a 2-8 record in ECC play. The Redhawks have already totaled their 2022 record of wins in 2023, coming into Wednesday's match at 4-7 and 1-1 in ECC, picking up a conference opener win over St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday but dropping Sunday's match to Mercy. The Redhawks average 11.4 kills per set and are led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Olivia Price who has 125 kills on the year to average 2.98 kills per set. Sophomore setter Caleigh Schroeder ranks second in the ECC with 8.98 assists per set, while junior libero Teagan Weber leads the team and ranks third in the league with 4.12 digs per set. 6-foot junior middle hitter Celine Malosa leads the Redhawks with 35 total blocks (second int he ECC with 0.88 blocks/set) and ranks fourth in the league with a .294 hitting percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats own a 35-20 record over the Redhawks in a series that dates back to 1997. Daemen has won the last 16 straight matches over Roberts, and topped the Redhawks 3-1 (23-25, 25-13, 25-22, 25-19) in the last meeting on Oct. 26, 2022 at Lumsden Gymnasium.

UP NEXT
Daemen will play three matches on the road next weekend, starting with a non-conference showdown at Post on Friday, Oct. 6 before continuing ECC play at Mercy on Saturday, Oct. 7 and taking on first-year program STAC for the first time in program history on Sunday, Oct. 8.

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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