Regular Season Finale Against Roberts On Tap For Women's Volleyball

The Wildcats Will Honor Four Seniors Ahead Of Last Regular Season Home Game

11/12/2024 2:42:00 PM

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

REGULAR SEASON FINALE
The Daemen University women's volleyball team will wrap up the 2024 regular season on Wednesday, Nov. 13 by hosting longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan University in the Wildcats' final home game of the season. The Wildcats come into the game with a 16-7 overall record and 8-3 record in East Coast Conference play and are currently in second place in the conference. Roberts is 12-11 overall and 3-7 in ECC matches.

LAST WEEKEND
The Wildcats went 1-1 last weekend, dropping their match against Mercy University in a 3-1 decision but getting back on track against St. Thomas Aquinas College on Sunday with a clean 3-0 sweep. In Daemen's loss to Mercy, the Mavericks out-hit the Cats in three of the four sets and finished with 52 kills to the Wildcats' 44. Daemen totaled 17 service aces but had 14 errors from the service line. Graduate student right side Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) posted a team-high 13 kills with four errors on 23 attacks for a .391 hitting percentage along with four block assists. Graduate student outside hitter Abby Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) finished with a team-high 13 kills with just three errors on 26 attacks to hit at a .385 clip while adding five digs, three block assists and two aces for a team-high 16.5 points. Sophomore Amelia González (Juana Diaz, P.R.) totaled a team-high seven block assists while adding five kills while senior middle Amelia Armstrong (River Falls, Wisc.) finished with five kills on 11 attacks for a .364 clip with just one error along with three block assists. Senior setter Avery Dole (Summerfield, N.C.) totaled 22 assists, two aces and one dig, while sophomore setter Molly Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) totaled nine assists, four digs, three aces and one kill. In Sunday's 3-0 victory, despite not having a Wildcat hit double-digit kills in the game, eight Daemen players recorded hits as the Wildcats finished with 34 kills and held the Spartans to 29 on the day. Freshman outside hitter Avery Craig (Tomball, Tex.) led the Wildcats offensively with eight kills and added seven digs and a career-high six service aces for 14 points on the day. Giraud finished with six kills on 17 attacks with just one error for a .294 hitting percentage while adding four block assists. Ryan posted six kills and 12 digs while graduate student libero Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) led the team with 14 digs and added five assists, two aces and one kill. Dole and Ryan each totaled 13 assists in the win.

ECC STANDINGS
Dropping their match at Mercy moved the Wildcats back into second place in the ECC with this last week of regular season left to play. The Wildcats, who have played 11 games, sit a half-game back at 8-3 behind conference-leader Queens College who is atop the league with a 8-2 record with two games left. Mercy is 7-3 overall with two games left and sits in third behind the Wildcats. D'Youville University sits comfortably in fourth at 6-5. Roberts Wesleyan and Molloy University are tied for fifth (3-7), and St. Thomas Aquinas is seventh at 1-9. The top four teams advance to the ECC Championship Tournament, held Nov. 22-23 at the highest seed.

School	ECC Record	Games Played
1. Queens	8-2	10
2. Daemen	8-3	11
3. Mercy	7-3	10
4. D'Youville	6-5	11
T5. Roberts Wesleyan	3-7	10
T5. Molloy	3-7	10
7. STAC	1-9	10

REGIONAL RANKINGS
The Wildcats are one of ten teams in the East Region listed as under consideration for NCAA bids in the first NCAA Division II women's volleyball rankings, as released by the regional advisory committee with games played through Nov. 3. 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. Listing the teams in alphabetical order for the first regional rankings, the 10 teams in the East Region are Adelphi (15-2 regional record), American International (12-3), Bentley (16-2), Daemen (11-5), Georgian Court (14-6), Mercy (12-7), Molloy (12-9), New Haven (16-5), Post (16-8) and Queens (17-8). The first numbered regional poll comes out on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

STAT CATS
Daemen has out-killed opponents 1208 to 891 on the season and lead the conference with 13.13 kills per set on the year while also leading the ECC in points (17.25/set), assists (12.10/set), service aces (2.58/set), opponent assists (8.82/set), opponent kills (9.68/set) and opponent service aces (1.84/set). Four Wildcats have double-digit kills on the year and several Wildcats rank in the top-10 statistically in the ECC. Giraud leads the Wildcats and ranks seventh in the ECC with 271 kills (2.95/set) while sitting fifth in the league with a .264 hitting percentage. Armstrong ranks third in the league in hitting percentage (.305) and is third on the team with 186 kills (2.09/set) while leading the Wildcats with 57 blocks (0.64/set), good for 10th in blocks in the league. Malpica is second on the team and fifth in the ECC with 241 kills (3.01/set) while ranking sixth in points (3.56/set) and eighth in digs with 250 total (3.13/set). Graduate student Abby Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) is second in the ECC in kills (3.45/set) and is fourth on the team with 193 total. Dole ranks fifth in the league in assists (6.76/set) and seventh in aces (0.52/set). Brundage is second in the ECC with 4.32 digs/set (397 total).

THANK YOU, SENIORS
Before the match, the Wildcats will honor four players for Senior Night celebrations.

#1 Giselle Giraud: Over her three-year career at Daemen, Giraud has totaled 774 kills on 1780 attacks to average 2.85 kills/set with a .310 hitting percentage. Appearing in 272 sets over 78 matches, the graduate student right side has 103 total blocks and 278 digs over three years and has averaged 3.13 points per set. She's hit double-digit kills in 45 matches over her career. This season, Giraud has started all 23 matches and leads the team offensively with 271 kills on 647 attacks for a .264 hitting percentage along with 30 blocks, 99 digs, 11 assists and five aces. She earned First Team All-ECC as a senior in 2023 and All-ECC Honorable Mention as a junior in 2022.

#10 Amelia Armstrong: A four-year player for the Wildcats, Armstrong appeared in 264 sets over 80 matches and totaled 480 kills on 1142 attacks to average 1.82 kills/set with a .276 hitting percentage. The middle hitter has 150 total blocks to her name, with 123 assisted and 27 solo blocks over her tenure at Daemen. Armstrong has compiled 114 digs and averages 2.16 points per set. This season, Armstrong ranks fourth on the team with 186 kills and leads the Cats with a .305 hitting percentage and a team-high 57 total blocks as one of two players to start all 23 matches this season.

#12 Jasmine Brundage: The last of the COVID era, Brundage has been a difference-maker on the court over her five-year stint as the Wildcats' libero. She currently sits fifth all-time in the Daemen record books with 1,804 total digs and is fourth all-time in digs per set with 4.50. Brundage has appeared in 401 sets over 114 matches and has 383 assists, 117 service aces and 24 kills through five seasons. With over 1,300 receptions to her name, Brundage has only 84 reception errors in her collegiate career. She leads the Wildcats and ranks second in the ECC with 397 digs this season (4.32/set) and is second on the team with 39 service aces. A two-time ECC Libero of the Year (2023, 2021), Brundage earned AVCA All-America Honorable Mention in 2023 along with being named to the AVCA All-East Region team and picking up First Team All-ECC honors for the second season (2023, 2021). She earned Second Team All-ECC in 2022.

#16 Abby Ryan: In her graduate transfer season, Ryan has played in 17 of Daemen's 23 matches and ranks third on the team with 193 kills on 549 attacks to average 3.45 kills per set. The outside hitter has 23 aces, 141 digs and 19 blocks on the year. Ryan played her four years of undergrad volleyball at Division I Robert Morris University where she appeared in 272 total sets over 83 matches and totaled 779 kills (2.86 kills/set), 42 aces, 546 digs (2.01 digs/set) and 47 total blocks over four years. In her five-year career, Ryan has 972 kills, 687 digs, 66 blocks, and 65 aces. She transferred to Daemen to play her final season of eligibility alongside her younger sister, Molly.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will play in the ECC Championship Tournament next weekend, Nov. 22-23.

THE REDHAWKS
Roberts Wesleyan comes into Wednesday's match with a 12-11 overall record and are 3-7 in ECC play after dropping four of their last five conference matches. Ranking third in the conference in points, hitting percentage, kills, assists, blocks, opponent hitting percentage, and second in digs, the Redhawks average 11.98 kills per set and are led offensively by 6-foot junior outside hitter Olivia Price with 267 kills (2.9 kills/set ranks eighth in the ECC). 5-foot-9 senior outside hitter Sydney Yanak ranks second on the team with 260 kills (2.83 kills/set is 10th in the league). Junior setter Caleigh Schroeder ranks second in the ECC with 9.68 assists/set and service aces with 0.57 aces per set, totaling 52 on the year. 6-foot senior middle Jaycee Karelus leads the team with 48 total blocks.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats and Redhawks are longtime rivals and have played 58 times throughout the history of this matchup. Daemen owns a 38-20 record over Roberts Wesleyan and has won the last 19 meetings, including topping Roberts in a five-set thriller on Oct. 16.

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.

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