Avery Dole celebrates a point for women's volleyball

Geoff Schneider

Top-Seeded Wildcats Host Fourth Straight ECC Tournament This Weekend

11/21/2024 2:56:00 PM

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

TOURNAMENT TIME
The 2024 East Coast Conference Championship Tournament is here! The top-seeded Daemen University women's volleyball team looks to defend their three consecutive ECC Tournament titles as they host the conference tournament this weekend at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats, who shared the 2024 ECC regular season title with Queens College, will face off against the No. 4 seed D'Youville Saints in the first ECC Semifinal match on Friday, Nov. 22 at 5 PM. The winner will advance to the championship game on Saturday at 5 PM where they will face the winner of the second semifinal match between second-seeded Queens and third-seeded Mercy. Tickets are required for entry and can be purchased through the ECC Online Ticket Portal.

REGULAR SEASON CO-CHAMPS
The Wildcats went 17-7 overall and 9-3 in ECC play this season and capped off the year by sharing the ECC regular season title with Queens. The Wildcats and Knights both finished 9-3 in conference play this year to become co-champions. It marked the fourth consecutive, and sixth overall, ECC regular season title for Daemen.

REGIONAL RANKINGS
Daemen is ranked second in the East Region in the final NCAA Division II Regional Rankings, released by the regional advisory committee on Wednesday evening through games completed by Nov. 17. 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. Daemen is second with a 13-6 record in regional games behind only Bentley (18-2). American International (16-3), New Haven (18-6), Adelphi (20-2), Mercy (15-9), Queens (19-9), Georgian Court (18-6), Molloy (14-10) and Bridgeport (20-8) make up the final teams in the 10-team region. The winners of the ECC, CACC and NE10 tournaments get automatic bids, and the next five teams will be chosen from the regional rankings.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Ahead of the tournament, four Daemen players earned All-Conference honors, with graduate student Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) picking up ECC Libero of the Year for the third time in her five-year career. All four Wildcats -- Brundage, Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.), Nahirka Malpica (Caguas, P.R.) and Abby Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) -- were named to the ECC First Team, marking the first time in program history that the Wildcats placed four players in the first team. Brundage earned Libero of the Year after finishing second in the ECC in digs (407) and digs/set (4.28). Giraud earned First Team honors for the second straight season after leading Daemen offensively with 278 kills (2.93 kills/set is seventh in ECC) and hitting in the double figures 17 times. Malpica picked up ECC honors for the first time in her career after a breakout junior season where she totaled 241 kills (3.01 kills/set is sixth in ECC) and 250 digs while tallying eight double-doubles. Ryan finished third on the team in kills with 204 and finished third in the conference with 3.46 kills/set.

DAEMEN IN THE ECC TOURNAMENT
The Wildcats are making their fourth straight and seventh overall appearance in the ECC Championship tournament. After going 13-1 in conference play to win their first ECC regular season title, Daemen made its first ever ECC Tournament appearance in 2016 but fell to New York Institute of Technology in the finals. The Wildcats returned to host the tournament in 2018 and beat Molloy 3-1 for their first ever ECC Tournament title. Daemen lost to Bridgeport in the 2019 semifinals, and the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wildcats hosted the tournament in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and hoisted the trophy all three years, topping Bridgeport 3-2 in the '21 championship for their second title, beating Molloy 3-0 in '22 and taking down Molloy last season 3-0 and for their fourth tournament championship. The Wildcats own an 8-2 overall record in ECC Tournament matches. Daemen split the season with all three teams in the tournament this year.

THE WILDCATS (17-7, 9-3)
Daemen enters the ECC Tournament with a 17-7 overall record and a 9-3 record in ECC play throughout the season to finish as regular season co-champions. The Wildcats have won six of the last seven games of the season coming into the conference tournament. Daemen has out-killed opponents 1247 to 914 on the season and lead the conference with 13.13 kills per set on the year while also leading the ECC in points (17.22/set), assists (12.07/set), service aces (2.56/set), opponent assists (8.78/set), opponent kills (9.62/set) and opponent service aces (1.81/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 278 kills (2.93/set) while sitting fifth in the league with a .268 hitting percentage. Senior middle Amelia Armstrong (River Falls, Wisc.) ranks third in the league in hitting percentage (.299) and is fourth on the team with 191 kills (2.08/set) while leading the Wildcats with 58 blocks (0.63/set), good for ninth 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). Ryan is third in the ECC in kills (3.46/set) and is third on the team with 204 total. Dole ranks fifth in the league in assists (6.72/set) and seventh in aces (0.50/set). Brundage is second in the ECC with 4.28 digs/set (407 total).

THE SAINTS (11-15, 7-5)
D'Youville is headed to the ECC Tournament for the first time in program history after clinching the No. 4 seed. The Saints topped the Wildcats in the first matchup of the season this year, snapping Daemen's 10-game win streak over the Saints and marking the Wildcats' second loss in ECC play. Averaging 11.32 kills per set, the Saints are led offensively by the heavy hitting duo of 5-foot-10 sophomore outside hitter Madeline O'Brien with 258 kills (2.77kills/set) and 5-foot-9 graduate student outside hitter Alex Darby who has 253 kills (2.81 kills/set). Darby earned All-ECC Honorable Mention honors in 2024. Senior libero Samantha Killane and graduate student Emma Wlostowski lead the Saints at the baseline with 44 and 43 aces and are sixth and eighth in the ECC. Wlostowski leads D'Youville with 397 digs (4.22 digs/set), good for third in the ECC. 5-foot-9 sophomore middle Giselle Ramirez leads the conference with 0.93 blocks per set and leads the Saints with 87 blocks while ranking third on the team with 155 kills.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 11-1 all time against the Saints.

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.

Print Friendly Version