Match #26 - East Coast Conference Women's Volleyball Championship - Semifinals
(#3 seed) Daemen Wildcats (12-13, 8-4 ECC) vs. (#2 seed) Molloy Lions (17-8, 10-2 ECC)
Friday, Nov. 21 | 6:30 PM | Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. | Neil Judge Student-Athlete Center
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POSTSEASON BOUND
Daemen is the No. 3 seed in this weekend's East Coast Conference Women's Volleyball Championship tournament, making their seventh straight appearance and eighth overall. It marks just the second time Daemen has entered the tournament not at the No. 1 seed, and the tournament is not being played at the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium for the first time since 2019. They Wildcats will face the second-seeded Molloy Lions in Friday's semifinal round at the Neil Judge Student-Athlete Center on the campus of top-seeded Mercy, looking to advance to the ECC Championship finals for the sixth time in program history.
M&M's
Freshman outside hitter/right side
Keira Mullen and senior outside hitter/right side
Nahirka Malpica continue to lead the Wildcats this season. Mullen has been a three-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection. She leads Daemen with 286 kills and ranks fourth among the ECC leaders in kills per set (3.21). Mullen has recorded 10+ kills in 13 of the last 18 matches, including a career-high 20 in wins over St. Thomas Aquinas (Oct. 11 & Nov. 8) and D'Youville (Oct. 22).
Malpica, the 2025 ECC Preseason Player of the Year, is contributing both offensively and defensively, ranking seventh in kills (2.95) and fifth in digs (2.99) per set among the ECC leaders. She is one of only two players league-wide to be in the top 10 of both categories. Malpica has picked up weekly accolades twice in recent weeks, most recently earning ECC Player of the Week honors for leading the Wildcats to a 2-1 record from Oct. 27-Nov. 2. The Puerto Rico native has appeared in 62 matches in her career, totaling over 600 kills and 600 digs.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Freshman middle blocker Solé Rancy and sophomore
Jarielys Giraud have both impacted the Wildcats while playing in their first collegiate season. Rancy, a native of Columbus, Ohio, has registered a team-high 104 blocks this season, and leads the ECC by averaging 1.18 blocks per set. She has surpassed the program's NCAA Division II era record for blocks in a season (78 by Ye Wang in 2015 & Vanessa Kuliga in 2021), and is the first Daemen player to reach 100 blocks in a season since 2012 when Ye Wang recorded 119. Giraud, who sat out last season as a medical redshirt, is contributing 2.86 digs per set (seventh among ECC leaders), ranking second on the squad with 209 total digs. She has posted 10+ digs in eight matches this season, including a season-high 28 in a five-set loss to Clarion on Sept. 12.
ON YOUR RIGHT
Sophomore
Payton Gaylor and junior
Molly Ryan have seen the bulk of the action attacking on Daemen's right side. Gaylor has a career-high 190 kills and is contributing 2.11 kills per set this season. She has recorded 10+ kills in five matches, including a career-high 14 vs. Adelphi on Sept. 20.
After appearing primarily as a setter to start her career, Ryan has seen an uptick in her usage on the right side since mid-October. She is contributing 1.39 kills per set on a .168 hitting percentage over the last nine matches (since Oct. 11) and has equaled her career-high of six kills three times in recent weeks, including in Daemen's regular season finale victory at Roberts Wesleyan.
SET IT UP
Grad student
Avery Dole and junior
Maddie Schamaun have split setting duties for much of the season, combining for 682 of Daemen's 1,009 assists. Dole, who began her career at Division I Canisius, has appeared in 48 matches over the last two seasons for the Wildcats, totaling 1,078 assists and 72 service aces. Including her three seasons at Canisius, Dole has over 1,500 assists in her collegiate career.
Like Dole, Schamaun began her career at the Division I level, playing two seasons for Stonehill. She has appeared in 18 matches this season and is averaging 4.31 assists per set. She stands just eight assists shy of 800 for her career.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
After being picked fifth in the ECC's preseason coaches' poll, the Molloy Lions outplayed the expectations and finished second in the league standings. Their only losses in conference play came to Mercy, including a five-set thriller this past Saturday which determined the ECC regular season champion and hosting rights for this weekend's tournament. It was their first setback since Oct. 18, snapping a five-match winning streak. The Lions come into the tournament ranking either first or second in the ECC for points per set (16.44), hitting percentage (.205), assists per set (11.57), kills per set (12.62), digs per set (14.14) and opponent hitting percentage (.147). The Lions feature a balanced offensive attack with five players averaging at least 1.70 kills per set, led by Erin Stanley's 2.62. Ilaria Micol Chiericati is Molloy's best presence out of the middle, as she has produced 66.0 blocks while also leading the league in hitting percentage (.322). Aria Miller anchors the back end of Molloy's defense and is averaging a league-best 4.23 digs per set.
SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats own a 22-7 advantage against the Lions all-time, but Molloy swept the teams' regular season series this year, snapping Daemen's 11-match winning streak in the overall series. Friday's match marks the fifth postseason meeting between the two with Daemen winning the previous four.
UP NEXT
The Daemen-Molloy winner will advance to the ECC Championship finals, set for Saturday, Nov. 22 at 5 p.m., when they'll meet the winner of Friday's first semifinal, featuring top-seeded Mercy and fourth-seeded (and defending tournament champion) D'Youville.
