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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
Keira Mullen goes up for the kill
Geoff Schneider
1
Daemen Daemen 2-6,0-0 ECC
3
Winner Holy Family HFam 6-1,1-0 CACC
Daemen Daemen
2-6,0-0 ECC
1
Final
3
Holy Family HFam
6-1,1-0 CACC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Daemen Daemen 10 25 17 28 (1)
Holy Family HFam 25 21 25 30 (3)
3
Winner Daemen Daemen 3-6,0-0 ECC
0
Franklin Pierce FPU 0-7,0-0 NE10
Winner
Daemen Daemen
3-6,0-0 ECC
3
Final
0
Franklin Pierce FPU
0-7,0-0 NE10
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Daemen Daemen 25 25 25 (3)
Franklin Pierce FPU 23 17 15 (0)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Director of Athletics Communications | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

Women's Volleyball Splits Friday At Wildcat Regional Invitational

 NEW CASTLE, Del. – The Daemen University women's volleyball team split Friday's two matches at the Wildcat Regional Invitational hosted by Wilmington University. Daemen moves to 3-5 on the year with the results.

Daemen dropped their first match of the tournament to Holy Family University, 1-3 (10-25, 25-21, 17-25, 28-30) of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) on Friday morning in a tough back-and-forth battle between the Wildcats and Tigers. Despite Daemen narrowly out-hitting Holy Family 55 to 51, the Tigers had the leg up in hitting percentage (.301 compared to .204 for Daemen) and committed just 14 attack errors to Daemen's 27.

In the second match of the day, the Wildcats rebounded in a big 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-15) win over Franklin Pierce University of the Northeast-10 to snap a four-match losing streak and earn their first win of the tournament. The Cats dominated offensively, out-hitting FPU 47 to 23 after seven players got in on the action. Daemen's .313 hitting percentage measured the highest of the season for the Wildcats after they committed a season-low 16 hitting errors in the win.

DAEMEN 1, HOLY FAMILY 3
  • Holy Family opened the set with a 5-0 run, capitalizing on multiple Daemen attack errors. The Tigers finished the first off with three consecutive kills to close the set to win 25-10. Sophomore right side Payton Gaylor (Bowmanville, Ont.) delivered a team-high three kills in the first.
  • The Wildcats turned up the heat in the second set, jumping out to a solid lead and held on despite a late Tiger comeback to take the set 25-21 and even the match up at one a piece. Senior outside hitter Nahirka Malpica (Caguas, P.R.) led Daemen with five kills in the set, while freshman outside hitter Keira Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) added four kills, including two in a crucial stretch to help Daemen pull ahead.
  • Holy Family took control early with a series of points off consecutive kills to build a 9-5 lead. Freshman middle blocker Sole Rancy (Columbus, Ohio) and sophomore outside hitter Avery Craig (Tomball, Tex.) combined for blocks, while junior middle blocker Kate Trueblood (Granger, Ind.) added multiple kills to cut the deficit to 17-12. The Tigers would capitalize on Daemen's errors and close the set 25-17 to take a 2-1 advantage.
  • In the fourth set, Daemen and Holy Family exchanged leads multiple times, with the Wildcats relying heavily on the offensive firepower of Mullen (five fourth-set kills) and Malpica (four kills). In a race to the finish with the Cats up 28-27, the Tigers scored three unanswered to win the fourth, 30-28, off two kills and a service ace to win the set.
Malpica led the team in scoring with 18 kills on 36 attempts while hitting .389 on the day. Mullen added to the team's offensive efforts with her first career double-double, totaling 14 kills and 10 digs. Rancy excelled defensively, registering 8 total blocks, including 3 solo blocks, to anchor the team's defense. Stepping in as libero for the Wildcats today, senior Mariangelys Vazquez (Bayamon, P.R.) contributed significantly with a team-high 15 digs.
 
DAEMEN 3, FRANKLIN PIERCE 0
  • After Franklin Pierce took a 20-15 lead over the Wildcats early, Daemen scored seven unanswered points to take a 22-20 advantage and held onto their lead to the end of the first, 25-23. The Wildcats got out swinging in the first, out-hitting the Ravens 16-6 in the opening set. Mullen led the Cats with four first-set kills while Gaylor, Malpica and Trueblood all added three kills apiece.
  • The Wildcats capitalized on their momentum early in the second, kicking off the set with a quick 6-1 lead. Daemen kept their foot on the gas for the rest of the set, cruising to a 25-17 victory over FPU after hitting 18 kills for a .378 clip. Mullen totaled nine second-set kills against the Ravens.
  • Daemen and Franklin Pierce traded points to open up the third. After the Ravens tied it up at 14 all, the Wildcats scored 11 of the next 12 points off five aces and two kills to win the third set, 25-15.
Mullen added to her successful day posting a career-high 19 kills on 36 attacks for a .361 clip and chipped in eight digs, three aces and two block assists. Gaylor finished with seven kills on 13 attacks while Malpica and junior setter Molly Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) each totaled six kills on the day. Ryan added a team-high five aces and 21 assists, splitting setting duties with fifth year Avery Dole (Summerfield, N.C.) who chipped in 16 assists and six digs. Vazquez finished with 10 digs as libero.
 
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will wrap up the Wildcat Regional Tournament on Saturday with a pair of matches, starting the day against Adelphi University of the NE10 at 11 AM and rounding everything off taking on host Wilmington of the CACC at 3 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 women's volleyball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWVB
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