DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – The No. 3 Daemen University women's volleyball team's season came to an end with a 3-1 (18-25, 28-26, 20-25-19-25) loss to No. 2 Molloy University in the East Coast Conference Volleyball Championship semifinals hosted by Mercy University tonight. The Wildcats finished the season at 12-14, while the Lions moved to 18-8.
Molloy took an early 5-2 lead in the opening set, but the Wildcats used a 5-3 run to cut the lead to one to trail 8-7. The Lions pushed their lead to 14-10, but Daemen kept it close, tallying the next three points to trail by one. Daemen attempted to keep it close for most of the set, but Molloy was able to keep the Wildcats at arm's reach to go on to win 25-18 and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Looking to bounce back in set two, Daemen jumped out to a 7-4 lead, but it did not last long as Molloy scored the next four points in a row to go up 8-7. The teams traded points to end up tied at 13 before Daemen grabbed a 17-15 lead. The Wildcats pushed their lead to 20-18, but the Lions used a 6-0 run to go up 24-20. The lead did not last long as Daemen strung together a 5-0 run to take a 25-24 lead before going on to win 28-26 and tie the match at one.
Headed into set three tied at one, Daemen took a 6-5 lead, but the Lions used a 4-0 run to go in front 9-6. Molloy pushed its lead to 14-8, and then each team tallied eight points each, with the Lions holding a 22-16 lead. The Wildcats tallied the next four points to cut the lead to two, but that is as close as they would get as the Lions took the set 25-20 and went up 2-1 in the match.
With the season on the line, Daemen found itself tied at eight to start the fourth set. Molloy scored the next four points in a row to take a 12-8 lead and then push the lead to 16-13. The Wildcats scored two straight points to trail 16-15, but Molloy used a 4-0 run to drive the difference to 20-15. Daemen used a 4-2 run to cut the lead to 22-19, but it was not enough as the Lions took the set 25-19 and the match 3-1.
The Wildcats as a team tallied nine aces, with both
Maddie Schamaun and
Keira Mullen each recording three aces.
Nahirka Malpica paced Daemen with 13 kills while adding seven digs. Teammate Mullen registered a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs.
Schamaun led the team in assists with 23, while
Avery Dole finished with 18 assists and nine digs.
Jarielys Giraud finished the night with nine digs of her own.
