AMHERST, N.Y. – After dropping their conference opener to Molloy on Saturday afternoon, the Daemen University women's volleyball team rebounded on Sunday, collecting their first East Coast Conference win of the season in a 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-23) victory over Queens College at Lumsden Gymnasium. Daemen moves to 5-8 on the year and 1-1 in ECC play with the victory while Queens falls to 6-9 and 0-2 in ECC matches.
The Wildcats hit well against the Knights, tallying 42 kills for a .252 clip while holding Queens to just 31 kills on 96 attacks for a .167 hitting percentage. Daemen finished the day with eight aces and out-blocked Queens 7 to 6 after totaling three solo blocks in the win. Senior outside hitter
Nahirka Malpica (Caguas, P.R.) led the Wildcats offensively with 12 kills on 33 attacks and posted her fifth double-double of the season with 12 digs. After earning her first career ECC Rookie of the Week award this week, freshman outside hitter
Keira Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) was outstanding for the Cats today, totaling 11 kills with just one error on 19 attacks for a team-high .526 hitting percentage. Sophomore
Avery Craig (Tomball, Tex.) led the Cats with four aces – three of which came in the first three serves of the match – and added 12 digs. Sophomore right side
Payton Gaylor (Bowmanville, Ont.) totaled eight kills along with two block assists, while freshman middle Solé Rancy (Columbus, Ohio) posted two solo blocks on the day. Graduate student
Avery Dole (Summerfield, N.C.) and junior
Maddie Schamaun (Rockville, Md.) split setting duties and each tallied 18 assists on the day.
- The Wildcats opened the first set with three straight aces from Craig and jumped out to a 12-6 advantage early on. Daemen would remain in control throughout the first and never trailed, taking the set 25-20 after out-hitting the Knights 15 to 9 while hitting .324 in the first. Malpica totaled five first-set kills, while Mullen chipped in four kills.
- Daemen and Queens played close throughout the second set, trading points as the game stayed between three points for the majority of the set until the end of the second as Cats scored five of the last six points off four kills to win 25-20.
- After the Wildcats led 9-8 over Queens early, Daemen rattled off an 8-3 run to jump out to a 17-11 advantage. The Knight would capitalize off six Daemen errors on their 9-4 run to make it a one-point game, 20-21. From there, it was a race to the finish, but a three kills from Malpica down the stretch and a Queens attack error sealed the deal for the Wildcats who took the third set 25-23 to sweep the Knights, 3-0, in the match.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will host crosstown rival D'Youville University on Wednesday at 6 PM and welcome former Daemen head coach Eli Irizarry and his AIC Yellowjackets to Lumsden on Saturday in a 4 PM match up.
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.
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