NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Playing in their final match before beginning East Coast Conference play, the Daemen University women's volleyball team topped the Owls of Southern Connecticut State, 3-1 (25-10, 25-21, 12-25, 25-10) on Friday night. The Wildcats move to 8-4 in non-conference play and will open up ECC action on Saturday afternoon.
Three Daemen players totaled double-digit kills on the day, with freshman outside hitter
Charlotte Koerber (Munich, Germany) leading all hitters with 16 kills (4 kills per set) for a season-high .342 hitting percentage in the match. Outside hitters
Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) and
Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) finished with 14 and 12 kills, respectively.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Koerber led the Cats for the seventh match this season, notching 16 kills on 38 attacks with three errors for a .342 hitting percentage. The freshman added six digs, four assists and an ace for a match-high 17 points.
- Fifth year outside hitter Burns posted her third double-double (kills-digs) of the season with 14 kills (3.5 kills/set) and a season-high 16 digs (4 digs/set). Burns finished with a .379 hitting percentage and added a team-high two solo blocks.
- Giraud notched her seventh double-digit kill performance of the season with 12 kills and 21 attacks with just one error while hitting at a .524 clip. The senior finished with four digs and one solo block on the day.
- Senior middle blocker Vanessa Kuliga (Glenview, Ill.) totaled five kills on 13 attacks and added a solo block and an assisted block to her stat line.
- Making her fourth straight start, freshman middle blocker Amelia González (Juana Díaz, P.R.) finished with three kills on nine attacks with three digs.
- Senior Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) tallied 17 digs (4.25 digs/set), three assists, an ace and a kill.
- Senior setters Dunja Masic (McHenry, Ill.) and Olivia Alessi (East Aurora, N.Y.) combined for 36 assists on the day. Masic led the team with 21 assists (7 assists/set), five digs, an ace and an assisted block, while Alessi posted 15 assists (7.5 assists/set) and four digs.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Wildcats opened the first with an 11-4 run, totaling seven kills on 11 attacks with zero hitting errors early in the first. Daemen handed SCSU just their third set loss in the last three matches with a 25-10 first set win. Daemen recorded zero attack errors in the first and finished with 16 kills and a .516 hitting percentage. Burns led all hitters with six first set kills.
- The second set was much more back and forth, with both teams trading points from the jump. After tying up the game at 19, the Wildcats won six of the last eight points, with a kill from Koerber and two kills from Giraud finishing the set, 25-21. Daemen tallied 15 kills in the set.
- SCSU came into the third set looking like a new team, jumping out to a 10-3 lead to begin the set. The Owls kept the scoring up to the end, taking the set 25-12.
- Daemen got back on track in the fourth, going on their own 14-3 run from the start. The Wildcats totaled 13 kills and just one error on 29 attacks for a .414 hitting percentage in the fourth as Daemen took the match with a 25-10 win over the Owls.
- The Wildcats posted a season-high .292 hitting percentage after totaling a season-low 13 attack errors. Daemen tallied 51 kills, marking the fifth match this season that the Wildcats finished with 50+ kills.
UP NEXT
Daemen begins ECC play this weekend. The Wildcats will kick off conference play with a noon match against Queens on Saturday, and will take on Molloy on Sunday at noon.
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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