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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
WVB SENIOR DAY 2021
Allison Post, Caitlyn Meyer and Ali Cousins (left to right) all contributed in Daemen's 3-0 victory over Queens on Senior Day Sunday.
0
Bridgeport UB 16-9,8-3 ECC
3
Winner Daemen DAE 19-7,12-0 ECC
Bridgeport UB
16-9,8-3 ECC
0
Final
3
Daemen DAE
19-7,12-0 ECC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Bridgeport UB 14 15 16 (0)
Daemen DAE 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | By Joe Kraus, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Bridgeport, Finish 12-0 In ECC Play On Senior Day Sunday

Victory gives Wildcats first-ever unbeaten record in ECC play in program history

AMHERST, N.Y. – Finishing at the top.  
 
After clinching their third East Coast Conference regular season championship in the program and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming ECC Championship tournament less than 24 hours ago, the Daemen women's volleyball program placed another log on its metaphorical fire Sunday morning.
 
Behind a few lengthy runs – most notably turning a four-point deficit into a seven-point lead as part of an 11-0 run in the third and final set – the Wildcats capped off their first-ever unbeaten conference season in program history (12-0) following a 3-0 victory (25-14, 25-15, 25-16) over the visiting Bridgeport Purple Knights in a Senior Day contest at Lumsden Gymnasium.
 
With the victory, Daemen became the third ECC team in the last 10 conference seasons to go undefeated (Molloy 2019, Bridgeport 2015.) Daemen also extended their program record of consecutive wins in ECC play to 12 matches. The 12 straight conference victories sets a new benchmark for the program, shattering the previous of 10 set in the 1999 and 2004 seasons.
 
With only a road contest at Le Moyne left to close out the regular season this upcoming Thursday (Nov. 11), Daemen currently stands at 19-7 overall, are winners of six straight and 15 of their last 17 matches. The Wildcats entered Sunday ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II East Region poll which was released earlier this week. 

Bridgeport, which already clinched a conference tournament bid, dropped to 16-9 overall and 8-3 in conference play with today's loss – their second of the season to the Wildcats. This also snapped Bridgeport's 8-match winning streak, the third longest active streak among East Region teams (American International: 15-match winning streak; Holy Family: 9-match winning streak.) It also marks the third time Daemen has swept the season series with Bridgeport since joining the ECC in 2013. Bridgeport still leads the all-time series, 10-7.


IMPACT PLAYERS
  • In what was the final home regular season contests of their Daemen careers, veterans Allison Post (Windsor, Calif.), Ali Cousins (Eldred, Pa.) and Caitlyn Meyer (Clarence, N.Y.) all contributed in today's victory. Meyer contributed team-highs in kills (8), digs (11) and serving aces (5) and a .571 hitting percentage. Meyer entered Sunday as the ECC leader in kills per set. Cousins posted 10 digs and seven digs while Post was on the court for many of Daemen's lengthy rallies.
  • Senior outside hitter Sam Logan (Eden, N.Y.) recorded five kills and six digs while junior middle blocker Loren Alberts (Huntley, Ill.) contributed six kills and two digs in the victory.
  • Sophomore defensive specialist Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) once again posted a match-high in digs (13), accomplishing the feat for a second straight match.
  • The Wildcats played without starting setter Olivia Alessi (East Aurora, N.Y.), but didn't miss a beat with sophomore Dunja Masic (McHenry, Ill.) running the show for a second straight match. Masic once again registered a match-high 24 assists and added three digs and three kills.
  • Senior right side Emily Buford totaled a team-high 11 kills to pace the Purple Knights along with six digs. Graduate student outside hitter Amanda Hennemann totaled a team-high 11 digs while freshman setter Jaden Henninger added a team-high 18 assists along with eight digs.

THE DEFINING MOMENT

After Daemen took the opening two sets by double-digit margins – 11 in the opening set and 10 in the second set – Bridgeport found a rhythm for themselves early in the third set. The Purple Knights build an early 7-3 lead thanks to four kills from Burford and a timely service ace from Hennemann in the set. Then, the Wildcats roared back.
 
A kill from Alberts ended the Purple Knights momentum and made the deficit, 7-4, which started an 11-0 run for the Wildcats to take a 14-7 lead and never look back. Along with three serving aces from Cousins, a pair of kills from Logan and a few attacking errors from Bridgeport propelled Daemen on this lengthy run.
 
Daemen then built up a 23-10 lead in the third set before Bridgeport chipped away the lead to just eight points (23-15.)  After exchanging serves, Cousins put the final nail in the coffin with one final kill to cap off the Sunday matinee.


GAME NOTES
  • Today's match marked the final home regular season contest in the careers of Daemen's Allison Post, Ali Cousins and Caitlyn Meyer. All three players were recognized in a brief pre-match ceremony. For more information on their Daemen careers, click here.
  • With the victory, Daemen has won nine straight home matches and were a perfect 8-0 at Lumsden Gymnasium this regular season. Since the start of the 2018 season, the Wildcats are 29-9 on Main Street and have posted a 27-5 record in home conference matches since  Stephanie Albano became head coach in 2016.
  • The Wildcats have won 36 out of 37 sets played in conference play this season.
  • Daemen's 19 wins are the most in a season since 2018 when they finished 21-11. 
  • Meyer's 295 kills this season rank as the sixth most for a single season during the program's NCAA Division II era (2015-present). She is five kills away from becoming just the fourth player of the era with 300 kills in a season.
  • Brundage's 385 digs this season rank as the fifth most for a single season during the program's NCAA Division II era. She is closing in on becoming only the third player of the era with 400 digs in a season. 

UP NEXT
The Wildcats wrap up the regular season with a non-conference contest Thursday, Nov. 11 at Le Moyne. Following this, the road to hoisting the 2021 ECC Championship title will run through Lumsden Gymnasium with Daemen serving as the No. 1 seed and featuring the top four teams in the ECC standings. The semifinal round will be held on Friday, November 19 and the finals on Saturday, November 20. The Wildcats will be seeking their second ECC tournament crown, and their first since 2018. The tournament is coming to Main Street for the third time (2016, 2018) in program history.

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 18 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.

Follow the Daemen College women's volleyball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWVB.
 
 
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