Amherst, N.Y. - The top-seeded Daemen Wildcats moved one step closer to a conference title by defeating the fourth-seeded Molloy Lions 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-20) in the semifinal round of the East Coast Conference Volleyball Championship this evening at Lumsden Gymnasium. Daemen will face the winner of tonight's second semifinal featuring second-seeded Bridgeport and third-seeded Mercy in the tournament final tomorrow at 3 p.m.
Daemen, which is seeking the second ECC tournament championship in program history, improved to 21-7 on the season. The Wildcats have won eight straight and 17 of their last 19 matches. On the other side, Molloy's season comes to an end at 12-14.
Daemen used a 6-2 run midway through the opening set to turn a one-point advantage into a 17-12 lead. The Wildcat lead was 21-15 when Molloy made things interesting by going on 6-2 spurt of their own, pulling within 23-21. Daemen got a sideout with a Molloy hitting error and Jasmine Brundage's (East Aurora, N.Y.) service ace gave the Wildcats the opening set.
The Wildcats never trailed in the second and third sets. Brundage was at the service line for four points in a 5-0 second-set spurt that featured three kills by Vanessa Kuliga (Glenview, Ill.) and two by Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.). Kuliga's last kill of the run put the Wildcats ahead 24-15. Molloy prolonged things with back-to-back points, but Logan came through with another kill to slam the door.
Daemen opened up a 15-7 lead in the third set and never looked back. Molloy cut the deficit in half, pulling within four points on three occasions, but Caitlyn Meyer (Clarence, N.Y.) ended the match with a big swing from the right side.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Kuliga paced a balanced Daemen offense that featured four players with double-figure kills. The sophomore middle blocker powered down 11 kills on a team-high .450 hitting percentage.
- Meyer, who earlier today was named the ECC Player of the Year, put down 10 kills and was stellar defensively, finishing with a career-high 24 digs. It marked her fifth double-double of the season and she's now had 10+ kills in 21 of 28 matches this season.
- Logan and fellow outside hitter Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) tallied 10 kills each. Logan also doubled up for the fifth time this season and for the 12th time in her career as she finished with 14 digs. Burns, who recorded five kills in the opening set, narrowly missed her own double-double as she finished with nine digs.
- Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.), who garnered ECC Libero of the Year honors earlier today, tossed in 16 digs and sophomore setter Olivia Alessi (East Aurora, N.Y.) contributed a match-high 34 assists.
- Graciela Cruz paced Molloy with 11 kills while Kathleen Doherty had a match-high 27 digs.
GAME NOTES
- Daemen is hosting the ECC Championship tournament for the third time since the program gained full NCAA Division II membership in 2015. Daemen first hosted in 2016 when they advanced to the final round before falling to second-seeded New York Tech. The tournament returned in 2018 when the Wildcats hoisted the championship trophy following wins over fourth-seeded Bridgeport and second-seeded Molloy. After tonight's win, Daemen is 4-2 all-time in ECC Championship play.
- This is the first ECC Championship to be held since 2019. The tournament and entire conference season was wiped out in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- With tonight's win, Daemen improves to 19-4 against in-region opponents this season. Since the 2016 season, Daemen has won 73% of games against East Region opponents (80-29).
- Daemen has won 39 out of 40 sets played against ECC opponents this season.
- Daemen improved to 14-5 all-time against Molloy, including a 10-1 mark in meetings played at Lumsden Gymnasium.
- Daemen extended their home winning streak to 10 straight matches. The Wildcats are 9-0 at home this season, and have posted a 30-9 home record since the start of the 2018 season.
- Daemen is ranked fourth in the NCAA East Region poll released earlier this week by the regional advisory committee. The East Region of NCAA Division II is comprised of teams from the East Coast Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and the regional rankings are used to determine at-large bids to the East Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament following the respective conference tournaments later this month.
- Daemen's eight-match winning streak is the longest for the program since rattling off 15 straight wins during the 2016 season. The Wildcats have reached the 20-win plateau for the 12th time in program history, as well as the third time as an NCAA program.
- With 14 digs tonight, Brundage has totaled 413 this season. She becomes just the third player to reach 400 digs in a season during Daemen's NCAA era, and the first since Ali Greenwood totaled 404 in 2019.
UP NEXT
Daemen awaits the winner of tonight's second semifinal. First serve in tomorrow's championship match is set for 3 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at eccsports.org/tickets.
Provided by the Daemen Sports Information Department.
