Daemen women's volleyball celebrates a point at the ECC semifinals

Geoff Schneider

East Region Quarterfinals Up Next For Women's Volleyball

12/4/2024 12:30:00 PM

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

TOURNAMENT TIME
For the fourth consecutive season, the Daemen University women's volleyball team is headed back to the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament. As the No. 2 seed in the eight-team regional, the 17-8 Wildcats will open up the tournament with a quarterfinal match up against No. 7 seed Georgian Court University on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 11 AM. Daemen is making its sixth NCAA Division II Tournament appearance (2016, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), while the Lions are making their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2019. They also made the Regional Tournament in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2013. Georgian Court earned a bid to the East Regional after winning the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Tournament and comes into the regional with a 21-9 overall record.

POSTSEASON HONORS
The Wildcats placed four players on the All-ECC First Team for the first time in program history -- graduate student Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.), graduate student Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.), junior Nahirka Malpica (Caguas, P.R.) and graduate student Abby Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.). Brundage was named the ECC Libero of the Year for the third time in her five-year career, and continued her run of postseason awards, earning a spot on the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-East Region Second Team for the first time in her career. Brundage is one of two liberos to earn the all-region honor on the 14-player team which represents the top players from the East Coast Conference, the Northeast-10 Conference and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. A trio of Wildcats earned All-Region honors by the AVCA, with Giraud earning First Team All-East Region honors for the first time in her career. Brundage and Malpica each earned Honorable Mention honors.

DAEMEN IN THE EAST REGION TOURNAMENT
A team that has seen continued success since the 2018 season, Daemen returns to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in seven seasons and sixth time overall. After earning the program's first ever NCAA Elite Eight appearance with an East Region title in 2021, Daemen fell to Saint Anselm (0-3) in the 2022 season but returned to the East Region Championship game in 2023. As the No. 5 seed in the regional, the Wildcats downed No. 4 seed American International (3-1) and upset top-seeded Adelphi (3-1) in four sets to advance to the Sweet Sixteen match for the second time in three seasons where they fell to eventual East Region champions Bentley (1-3) in the title game. It marked the third time in program history that the Wildcats played in the regional championship (2016, 2021, 2023). The Wildcats are 7-4 all-time in the East Region Tournament.

THE WILDCATS (17-8)
Daemen comes into the East Regional with a 17-8 overall record after claiming their fourth consecutive ECC regular season title and hosted the 2024 ECC Tournament. Daemen, who posted a 9-3 record in regular season conference games, fell to crosstown rival D'Youville for the second time this season in five sets in the ECC semifinals and did not advance to the tournament championship for the first time since 2019. Daemen has out-killed opponents 1307 to 962 on the season and lead the conference with 13.07 kills per set on the year while also leading the ECC in assists (12.00/set), service aces (2.54/set), opponent assists (8.74/set), opponent kills (9.62/set) and opponent service aces (1.80/set). Daemen's 2.54 aces/set ranks fourth in NCAA Division II women's volleyball. The Wildcats are led by a quartet of First Team All-ECC players. Graduate student Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) leads the Cats offensively with 296 kills (2.96 kills/set) along with junior Nahirka Malpica (Caguas, P.R.) who totaled 241 kills (3.01/set) in the regular season and graduate student Abby Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) who totaled 220 kills (3.44/set) after transferring to Daemen for her final year of eligibility. Graduate student Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) was named ECC Libero of the Year for the third time in her five-year career and comes into the NCAA Tournament totaling 430 digs (4.3 digs/set). Senior middle hitter Amelia Armstrong (River Falls, Wisc.) ranks third in the ECC in hitting percentage (.302).

THE LIONS (21-9)
Winners of the CACC regular season and Tournament titles, Georgian Court went 14-2 in conference play throughout the season and swept No. 4 seed in the North braacket Felician (3-0) in the quarterfinals, beat No. 3 seed in the South bracket Jefferson (3-1) in the semifinals and swept No. 1 seed in the North bracket Post 3-0 in the championship to win the program's seventh CACC Tournament championship. Led by 2024 CACC Coach of the Year Shana Rayside, the Lions return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. On the year, Georgian Court is averaging 11.5 kills per set (.194 hitting percentage) and rank 11th in NCAA Division II women's volleyball in service aces per set (2.29). A First Team All-CACC honoree, 5-foot-11 graduate student outside hitter Nylene Mateo leads the Lions offensively with 354 total kills (3.22 kills/set) and has 55 aces and 42 total blocks on the year. Senior outside hitter Giorgia Cappelletti , who was named to the CACC Third Team, leads the nation in service aces per set (0.69) with 79 total and ranks second on the team with 269 kills (2.45/set). A member of the Second Team All-CACC, 6-foot-1 senior middle blocker Chelsea Ross has 122 of GCU's 200 total blocks on the year and ranks third on the team with 229 kills (2.08/set).

SERIES HISTORY
This marks just the second time that the Wildcats and Lions meet. Daemen owns a 1-0 all-time record over Georgian Court after sweeping the Lions, 3-0, in Sept. 2015 at the Charger Invitational hosted by New Haven.

UP NEXT
The winner of the Daemen/Georgian Court quarterfinal will advance to the semifinals to face the winner of No. 3 seed American International / No. 6 Mercy on Friday at 4 PM.

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.

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