AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen has been awarded the No. 2 seed in the East Regional portion of the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship which gets underway next week. The full 64-team NCAA tournament bracket was revealed this evening in a
selection show broadcast at NCAA.com.
The Wildcats earned an automatic bid after
winning the East Coast Conference Championship tournament at Lumsden Gymnasium over the weekend. Daemen will face seventh-seeded Saint Anselm (20-9) out of the Northeast-10 Conference in the opening round of the East Regional on Thursday, November 17 at 12 PM. American International garnered the No. 1 seed and will host the East Regional at the Henry A. Butova Gymnasium on their campus in Springfield, Mass.
Additional first round matchups include top-seeded American International (29-2) against No. 8 Molloy (16-11), No. 3 Bentley (23-6) facing No. 6 Southern New Hampshire (16-7), and No. 4 Jefferson (24-6) taking on No. 5 Adelphi (21-10).
The East Regional is one of eight regional tournaments to be held across the country. The eight regional champions will advance to the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship Elite Eight scheduled for December 1-3 at the Royal Brougham Pavilion in Seattle, Wash.
Daemen will be making their fourth NCAA tournament appearance. The Wildcats earned previous berths in 2016, 2018 and 2021 and are the reigning East Region champions. Daemen is coming off their deepest tournament run after winning the program's first East Region championship last season and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time ever.
Daemen will enter this year's tournament with a 20-5 overall record. The Wildcats went unbeaten (10-0) through the ECC schedule and punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament with conference tournament wins over Mercy and Molloy. Led by ECC Coach of the Year
Eli Irizarry, ECC Player of the Year
Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) and ECC Co-Setter of the Year
Olivia Alessi (East Aurora, N.Y.), the Wildcats have won nine-straight and 18 of their last 20 matches. They'll be meeting Saint Anselm for just the fourth time overall, but the second time in the season. Daemen beat the Hawks 3-1 in the East Region Clash tournament opener on Sept. 9 in Springfield, Mass. The Daemen-Saint Anselm winner will advance to the regional semifinals on Friday, November 18 to face the winner of the Bentley-Southern New Hampshire match. The regional champion will be crowned Saturday, November 19.
Additional details including match times, broadcast and ticket information will be posted to daemenwildcats.com in the coming days.
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.
Follow the Daemen women's volleyball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWVB.
