AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen University women's volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 27-25) sweep over Saint Michael's in the Wildcats' home opener at Lumsden Gymnasium on Saturday. The Cats outhit the Purple Knights 46 to 28 on the day while hitting .239 and holding Saint Michael's to just .084.
After Daemen and Saint Michael's traded points through an 11-11 tie, the Wildcats created separation by taking six of the next seven points, with
Audrey Johnson (Mequon, Wisc.),
Payton Gaylor (Bowmanville, Ont.) and Amelia Gonzalez (Juana Diaz, P.R.) providing kills before a Saint Michael's attack error made it 17-12. The Wildcats stayed in front down the stretch, getting late kills from
Mina Faw (Williamsburg, Va.),
Avery Craig (Tomball, Tex.) and Johnson before closing out the set with a 25-17 win.
The Wildcats broke from a 7-7 tie with six straight points, starting with a Johnson kill and continuing behind
Mollie Berry's serve as
Mina Faw put down two kills and Saint Michael's committed three errors for a 13-7 lead. After the Purple Knights got back to 13-9, the Wildcats answered with kills by Johnson and Gaylor around a Gonzalez-Gaylor block to move ahead 17-9. Daemen closed the set with four straight using a
Mina Faw-
Jolie Faw block, a pair of kills from
Mina Faw and an ace by
Nicole Giardina (Midland, Mich.) to finish a 25-15 win.
Saint Michael's set the pace early in the third, jumping out to a 12-6 lead, but the Cats cut into the margin from there using a Craig ace, two
Mina Faw kills and points from Johnson and
Maddie Schamaun (Rockville, Md.) to get within two, 17-15. After the Purple Knights took a four-point lead, Johnson's kill brought the Wildcats within 22-19, and
Jarielys Giraud served the next four points, including a service ace and another Johnson kill, to put the Wildcats up 23-22. After Saint Michael's moved to 25-24, the Wildcats answered with kills from Gaylor and Craig before Johnson's ace finished a 27-25 set win.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Named the East Coast Conference Rookie of the Week, Johnson added another impressive outing, notching a team-high 12 kills while hitting a season-high .458 percentage. The freshman recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 10 digs and added two aces
- Mina Faw tallied a season-best 10 kills while hitting .438, adding two blocks – one solo – for 11.5 points.
- Craig totaled seven kills, 10 digs and one ace on the day.
- Schamaun finished with 21 assists and four digs.
- Berry totaled a team-high 11 digs
UP NEXT
The Wildcats remain at Lumsden Gymnasium this week, hosting Slippery Rock of the PSAC on Tuesday at 6:30 PM.
