INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – For the second consecutive day, the Daemen University women's volleyball team split a pair of matches while partaking in the
University of Indianapolis Invitational held at the Ruth Lilly Center and Nicoson Hall. The Wildcats, who suffered a 3-0 defeat to Indiana University of Pennsylvania before defeating Kentucky Wesleyan College in straight sets yesterday, had the opposite happen today. Daemen opened the day with a thrilling 3-2 victory (19-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 15-9) over Maryville University, but had a 3-1 setback (19-25, 25-15, 18-25, 21-25) in their tournament finale against Tiffin University, moving them to 2-2 for the season.
MATCH #1: DAEMEN VS. MARYVILLE
The Wildcats found themselves trailing 2-1 in the match, but rallied for big wins in sets four and five to thwart the Great Lakes Valley Conference-affiliated Saints. Daemen powered down 13 kills in the fourth set and benefitted from seven Maryville attack errors. In the fifth, Daemen's offense continued to churn out points, accounting for 10 kills, while their defense limited Maryville to only two kills and a -.059 hitting percentage. The Wildcats jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the decisive frame and never looked back.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Graduate students Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) and Abby Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) paced the Daemen offense, combining for 31 of Daemen's 65 kills. Giraud put down 18 kills to lead all players, and attacked at a .395 clip. Ryan tallied 13 kills and added a season-high 23 digs.
- Additional offensive production came from the likes of Payton Gaylor (Bowmanville, Ont.), Amelia Armstrong (River Falls, Wisc.) and Avery Craig (Tomball, Tex.). Gaylor (eight kills), Armstrong (seven kills) and Craig (six kills) were among the seven Daemen players with at least four kills in the match.
- Avery Dole (Summerfield, N.C.) and. Molly Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) split time at the setter position. Dole contributed a season-high 36 assists while Ryan set a new career benchmark with 19 assists. The duo also combined for five service aces and both reached double figures in digs (Dole 12, Ryan 13), each recording their first double-doubles as Wildcats.
- Graduate student Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) posted a team-high 28 digs to pace the Daemen defense.
MATCH #2: DAEMEN VS. TIFFIN
A similar fate was not in store for the Wildcats as they fell behind 2-1 again, but this time a rally didn't come. Daemen put down 19 kills on a .359 hitting percentage during a strong second set, but they hit just .029 in the third set and ultimately committed 33 hitting errors in the match, compared to just 16 for the TU Dragons.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Abby Ryan and Giraud once again paced the offense. Ryan finished with a match-high 18 kills on 54 attempts. She added 10 digs for her third double-double in four matches. Giraud chipped in 11 kills and nine digs.
- Dole primarily handled the setting duties, finishing with 31 assists, five kills, five digs and two aces.
- Nahirka Malpica (Caguas, P.R.) contributed six kills and 12 digs, while Brundage posted a match-high 21 digs.
UP NEXT
Daemen returns to regional competition next weekend with a trip to Bentley University for the Sandy Hoffman Memorial Tournament. Daemen's three-match trip gets underway Friday, Sept. 13 when they meet the University of New Haven at 4:30 p.m.
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.
