Women's Volleyball Celebrates At UIndy Volleyball Tournament on Sept. 6, 2024

Women's Volleyball To Play Final Non-Conference Tournament At IUP

9/19/2024 2:15:00 PM

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

BACK AT IT
The Daemen University women's volleyball team will travel to Indiana, Pa. for their final non-conference tournament of the season at the Crimson Hawk Classic. The Wildcats will play three matches at the tournament with two matches on Friday, first playing Shepherd at 11 AM and wrapping up the day with a 3 PM match against Elizabeth City State. Daemen will take on Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday at 11 AM in the final match of the tournament.

LAST WEEK'S ACTION
The Wildcats come into the tournament with a 4-3 overall record after going 2-1 at the Sandy Hoffman Memorial Tournament last weekend at Bentley University. Daemen opened the tournament with a marathon 3-2 victory over New Haven. The Chargers forced a fifth set after taking the fourth 23-25, but Daemen went on a 9-3 run in the final set to complete the comeback. The Wildcats totaled 69 kills against the Chargers, with graduate student outside hitter Abby Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) leading the charge with a career-high 26 kills and 13 digs for a double-double. Junior outside hitter Nahirka Malpica (Caguas, P.R.) posted a double-double of her own with 10 kills and 13 digs. Graduate student libero Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) led the way with 18 digs for the Wildcats. In a rematch of the 2023 East Region championship, Daemen dropped their first match of the day on Saturday in a 0-3 decision to host Bentley. Ryan led the Wildcats again with eight kills, while senior Amelia Armstrong (River Falls, Wisc.), graduate student Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) and Malpica each contributed five kills. Brundage totaled 16 digs in the loss to the Falcons. Daemen then turned around following the loss with a huge 3-0 win over AIC in their final match of the tournament immediately after the Bentley contest. The Wildcats hit .248 and totaled 42 kills against the Yellowjackets and were again led by Ryan who posted a 13-kill, four block performance. Malpica rattled off 12 kills and seven digs, while Brundage posted 18 digs and nine assists against AIC.

WEEKLY HONORS
After posting 52 digs over three matches, Brundage was named the East Coast Conference Co-Defender of the Week for week two of the volleyball season. The 5-foot-5 libero totaled 52 digs while posting an ECC-leading 4.73 digs per set without committing a single receiving error over 11 sets.

RYAN'S REIGN
Joining the Wildcats as a graduate transfer for her final year of eligibility, Abby Ryan has made quite the splash for Daemen in her first seven matches as a Wildcat. The WNY native outside hitter leads the team offensively, posting 103 kills and ranks second in the ECC with 4.29 kills/set. Ryan has posted double-digit kills in all but one match this season, and has posted a double-double (kills-digs) in five matches on the year. She ranks second on the team in digs behind only the 2023 ECC Libero of the Year Brundage, totaling 74 digs (3.08 digs/set) and ranks second on the team in blocks (12).

TOP OF THE POLLS
The Wildcats were picked to finish first in the 2024 ECC Preseason Coaches' Poll for the third consecutive year after the Wildcats took home their third straight ECC regular season and tournament titles. Daemen earned four of a possible seven first-place votes and totaled 45 points to top the preseason poll for the fourth time since 2019. Mercy University collected two first place votes and finished second in the poll with 40 points. Molloy University picked up the final first-place vote and landed third in the poll with 36 points. Queens College (26), St. Thomas Aquinas College (20), D'Youville University (19) and Roberts Wesleyan University (10) round out the poll.

UP NEXT
Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium for the first time this season to open up ECC play. The Wildcats will host Mercy on Saturday at 1 PM for their home opener and St. Thomas Aquinas on Sunday at noon.

THE RAMS
After posting a 14-15 overall record in 2023, Shepherd comes into the Crimson Hawk Classic on fire with an undefeated record through the first eight matches of the season. The Rams have gone 4-0 in each of the two tournaments they have played in to open the year. The Rams are averaging 12.3 kills per set this season and are led offensively by 5-foot-7 sophomore outside Amya Davis with 79 kills (2.93 kills/set) and 6-foot-1 sophomore middle Rylee Lenz with 65 (2.32 kills/set). The Rams have totaled 70 blocks on the year and are led at the net by the tag team duo of sophomore middle Sophia Ryan with 36 blocks and senior right side Joi Fairweather with 35 blocks on the year. This will be the first time the Wildcats and Rams meet on the court.

THE VIKINGS
Elizabeth City State posted a successful 20-13 overall record last season, but have had a tough start to 2024 after opening the year 1-5 with their sole win coming against Barry last weekend at the University of Charleston Tournament. The Vikings average 10 kills per set through their first six matches. Senior middle Jada Rouse leads the charge offensively for the Vikings with 45 kills (2.14 kills/set) and leads the team with 15 aces. Junior middle Andrea Rose has contributed 40 kills and ranks second on the team with nine blocks on the year. The Wildcats and Vikings have never met on the court before.

THE MOUNTAIN CATS
Coming off a 19-12 season that ended in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region quarterfinals a year ago, Pitt-Johnstown has posted a perfect 8-0 record to open up the year. The Mountain Cats have swept five of their first eight matches of the season in 3-0 sets, and come into the Crimson Hawk Classic averaging 13.7 kills per set. Led offensively by senior outside hitter Lualis Alvarado with 118 kills (4.07 kills/set), the Mountain Cats have five players with 50+ kills so far this season. 6-foot-2 junior middle Mallory Pinske leads the team at the net with 26 blocks and ranks second on the team with 55 kills (1.96 kills/set).

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats and Mountain Cats have played one time in the history of the program. Pitt-Johnstown came away with the 3-2 win on Sept. 11, 2004.

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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