Wildcats Return Home For Matches Against D'Youville, Wilmington

10/9/2024 10:28:00 AM

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

COMING HOME
The Daemen University women's volleyball team returns to Lumsden Gymnasium this week for a pair of matches. The Wildcats will host crosstown rival D'Youville University on Thursday, Oct. 10 in an East Coast Conference match up at 6:30 PM, then welcome Wilmington University of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) on Friday, Oct. 11 in a non-league game at 7 PM. Daemen comes into the week with a 10-4 overall record and 3-1 record in ECC play. D'Youville is 5-11 on the year and 2-2 in conference matches, while Wilmington sits at 8-8 and is 4-1 in CACC games.

LAST WEEK
The Wildcats had a surprising weekend, going 1-1 in matches against Queens and Molloy. Daemen snapped a 37-match regular season conference win streak with their 1-3 loss to Queens on Saturday, falling in a regular season conference match for the first time since Nov. 10, 2019. It marked the first time the Knights beat the Wildcats since 2017. Daemen dominated the opening set, 25-9, but Queens took advantage of Wildcat errors to win the final three sets. Daemen and Queens each totaled 40 kills on the day. The Knights out-blocked Daemen 10 to 4. Wildcat outside hitters Abby Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Nahirka Malpica (Caguas, P.R.) each had double-digit kills, with Ryan leading all players offensively with 14 kills on 47 attacks and Malpica adding 10 kills on 26 attacks. Malpica earned her fifth double-double of the season, adding 10 digs to her stat line. Senior setter Avery Dole (Summerfield, N.C.) posted 20 assists and added two aces, one kill, three block assists and six digs. Graduate student libero Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) led all Wildcats with 21 digs while adding seven assists and one ace. The Wildcats bounced back from Saturday's loss with a 3-1 win over Molloy on Sunday to move to 10-4 on the year and 3-1 in ECC play. Three Wildcat players totaled double-digit kills today as the Wildcats narrowly out-hit the Lions 55 to 50 and finished with a .311 hitting percentage. Daemen stood tall at the net today, with five different players recording blocks and four Wildcats posting multiple blocks in the victory as Daemen finished with eight blocks while holding the Lions to just four. Malpica posted a team-high 16 kills with just three errors on 30 attacks for a .433 hitting percentage along with nine digs and four block assists. Ryan earned her fifth double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs while adding three aces. Senior middle hitter Amelia Armstrong (River Falls, Wisc.) added 11 kills for a team-high .526 hitting percentage while adding one solo block and three block assists. Dole and sophomore Molly Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) split setting duties on Sunday and combined for 38 of Daemen's 50 assists. Dole totaled 21 assists and led the team with five aces while adding nine digs and three kills, while Ryan had 17 assists, one ace and three digs. Brundage led the way for the Cats with 14 digs.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Wildcats have defended home court over the past few years. Daemen currently ranks fourth in the nation with a 17-game home win streak that dates back to Oct. 26, 2022. Daemen put together a perfect 12-0 win streak at home last season. The Wildcats trail only Nebraska-Kearney (23 wins), Missouri St. Louis (21 wins) and Tampa (20 wins) in all of Division II women's volleyball.

HEAVY HITTING CATS
Daemen has four players with triple-digit kills this season. Ryan, a graduate transfer, and graduate student Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) lead the team with 161 kills on the year. Ryan, who's started 12 of Daemen's 14 matches, is averaging 3.83 kills per set which ranks second in the ECC in kills/set. Giraud has started all 14 matches and averages 2.88 kills/set (10th in the ECC) with a .268 hitting percentage (6th in the league). Malpica has made a huge splash in her junior campaign, ranking third on the team with 148 kills (2.90 kills/set is ninth in the ECC). Armstrong crossed the 100 mark this weekend and ranks fourth on the team with 110 kills (2.08 kills/set) and ranks third in the ECC with a .321 hitting percentage on the year. As a team, the Wildcats have compiled 743 kills and average a league-high 13.27 kills per set through 14 matches this season.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats host Atlantic Region powerhouse Gannon on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 6 PM then will travel to Rochester to play at Roberts Wesleyan on Wednesday, Oct. 16 in a 7 PM match up.

THE SAINTS
D'Youville currently sits fifth in the conference with a 2-2 ECC record and is 5-11 overall on the year. The Saints rebounded after opening the season 0-7, going on a three-game win streak and picking up their first two conference wins of the season over STAC and Mercy before falling at Queens and Molloy this past weekend. Averaging 11.1 kills per set, the Saints are led offensively by 5-foot-10 sophomore outside hitter Madeline O'Brien with 156 kills (2.94 kills/set) and 5-foot-9 graduate student outside hitter Alex Darby who has 142 kills (2.63 kills/set). Graduate student Emma Wlostowski leads the Saints at the baseline with 31 aces (fourth in the ECC) and 237 digs (4.39 digs/set) which also ranks fourth in the ECC.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 10-0 all time against the Saints.

THE WILDCATS
After opening the season 0-3, Wilmington went 4-1 during the middle of September and comes into Friday's match with an 8-9 overall record and 4-2 record in CACC play. The Wildcats average 10.81 kills per set and are led offensively by freshman outside hitter Eliza Schneider (2.75 kills/set) and freshman outside hitter Karla Nunez-Rivera (2.25 kills/set). Senior middle hitter Alex Serna leads the Wildcats at the net with 63 total blocks (1.03 blocks/set) and adds 1.67 kills/set to the team.

SERIES HISTORY
Daemen owns a 4-1 record over Wilmington and has won the last four meetings between the two teams.

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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