Amherst, N.Y. - The Daemen University women's volleyball team handled Molloy 3-0 (25-9, 26-24, 25-16) to win their second straight East Coast Conference championship, and third since 2018, on Saturday evening at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats, who put together their 13th 20-win season in program history, move to a 20-5 record on the season and will represent the ECC as the league's automatic qualifier for the upcoming NCAA Division II Championship.
Daemen graduate student Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) was named Most Outstanding Player of the ECC Championship tournament. Logan totaled 22 total kills (3.66 kills/set) on the weekend, tallying 12 kills in the semifinal match against Mercy and 10 kills against Molloy in the ECC Championship tonight.
Molloy, who appeared in the final round of the ECC Championship for the first time since 2018 when they lost to Daemen, finishes the season with a 16-11 record. The Lions are left searching for their first conference championship since 2017.
The Wildcats are the first team to repeat as ECC tournament champions since Bridgeport's four consecutive ECC Championship victories from 2012-2015. The Wildcats will find out regional bids, host sites, seeding and dates of the East Regional in the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday at 10:30 PM at ncaa.com.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Junior outside hitter Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) led all hitters tonight, notching 11 kills (3.66 kills/set) for a season-high .550 hitting percentage. She added five digs in the win.
- First Team All-ECC outside hitter Sam Logan finished her final match of conference play with a 10-kill performance (3.33 kills per set) and a .308 hitting percentage and added 16 digs (5.33 digs/set) for her 12th double-double of the season.
- First Team All-ECC middle blocker Vanessa Kuliga (Glenview, Ill.) earned a season-high .727 hitting percentage, knocking down eight kills (2.66 kills per set) with zero errors while adding three solo blocks, an ace and three digs.
- Sophomore middle hitter Amelia Armstrong (River Falls, Wisc.) tallied eight kills for a .438 hitting percentage with three digs.
- ECC Player of the Year Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) finished with four kills, two aces, and ten digs.
- ECC Co-Setter of the Year Olivia Alessi (East Aurora, N.Y.) totaled 34 assists to average 11.33 assists per set, along with three aces and six digs in the win.
- Second Team All-ECC sophomore libero Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) scooped up 15 digs on the day, averaging five digs per set.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Wildcats went on an 11-2 run to open the match.
- Giraud tallied 4 kills for a .667 hitting percentage in the first set and added a team-high six kills in the second set.
- Daemen out-killed Molloy 42 to 31 in the championship match. The Wildcats finished with a .313 hitting percentage compared to just .098 for the Lions.
- Molloy crawled back into the game in the second set after a 6-0 run complete with three-straight service aces by Molloy's Kaitlyn Jordan. The Lions traded points with the Wildcats all the way to the end of the set until Daemen finished with a Logan kill and ace by Alessi to take the second 26-24.
- Armstrong earned a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage in the first set with three kills on three attacks.
- All three of Daemen's blocks in the match came from the hands of junior middle blocker Vanessa Kuliga, who has tallied multiple blocks in the last eight matches.
- Daemen finished with seven service aces on the day. Burns, and Alessi served up multiple aces, while senior defensive specialist Mickaley Monahan (Saline, Mich.) and Kuliga each finished with one ace in the win.
GAME NOTES
- Molloy's nine first-set points tied a season-low in points for a Daemen opponent. Daemen finished 25-9 in the second set against the Lions in their first meeting of the season this year on Sept. 25.
- Daemen hosted the ECC Championship for the fourth time since the program gained full NCAA Division II membership in 2015. The Wildcats previously hosted in 2016, 2018, 2021 and this weekend.
- Daemen is ranked third 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.
- The Wildcats have won seven straight matches, and extended their home record to 10-2 on the season.
- Logan is now just 14 kills away from becoming the 10th player in program history to total 1,000 career kills.
UP NEXT
Daemen will learn its NCAA Tournament seed and first-round opponent in the Selection Show to be broadcast on ncaa.com on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 10:30 p.m.
Provided by the Daemen Sports Information Department.
