Box Score AMHERST, N.Y. (Oct. 21, 2016) - The unfriendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium did not serve the Molloy College volleyball team well on Friday (Oct. 21) as the Lions were swept in three sets by Daemen College in an East Coast Conference bout. Set scores in Amherst favored the Wildcats by a count of 25-13, 25-20 and 25-14. Daemen now improves to 15-6 overall and 7-1 in conference play while Molloy drops to 4-19 and 1-6 in ECC action this season.
The Lions opened the first stanza of play well enough, taking a 3-1 lead on account of kills by
Devon Hagerstrom (Bethpage, N.Y.) and
Jeanne Reinis (La Mirada, Calif.). The advantage would not last as Daemen built up a lead thanks to miscues on the attack by the maroon and white; despite this, freshman
Shannon Wren (Lynbrook, N.Y.) continued to keep her team in the contest with three kills in the opening few points ot play. Molloy trailed 10-8 after an attack error by the Wildcats, but reigning ECC Rookie of the Year Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y.) connected on a kill that started a 15-5 run for the hosts. Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y.) and Christina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania) combined for five kills on the run as Daemen won the first set easily by a 25-13 score.
The second set started off with both sides getting block assists in the first two points. Molloy started with a combined block from Hagerstrom and
Hailey Wehr (Wading River, N.Y.) but Daemen answered with a tandem block from Ashley Drzymala and Rachel Stephenson (Hamburg, N.Y.). The Lions held a 10-9 lead after a kill by
Danielle Williams (Alba, Texas), her second in a four-point span; unfortunately for the Lions, Daemen would score 11 of the next 13 points with kills by Apostol and Melissa Postek (Williamsville, N.Y.) punctuating the home team's run to a 20-12 lead. The Lions would not quit easily, with the four-pronged attack of Hagerstrom, Wehr, Williams and Wren bringing Molloy within four points at 24-20. Out of a time-out, however, Stephenson sent home a kill to win the second set for the Wildcats.
Daemen opened the final set with the first four points on a kill by Ashley Drzymala and three consecutive attacking errors committed by the Lions. Molloy answered to knot the score at five-all with kills by Hagerstrom, Wren and
Sophia Smith (Georgetown, Texas) as well as a service ace from Williams. But volleyball is a game of rallies, and Daemen won eight of the next ten points with a kill by Postek forcing a Molloy timeout at 13-7. Molloy attempted a run as a kill by Smith brought her side within five points at 15-10; Daemen then scored six consecutive points to open up a 10-4 run. The Wildcats won the final three points with kills by Apostol and Ashley Drzymala surrounding a service ace by Sydney MacInnis (Superior, Colo.) to end the match in just over an hour.
For the Lions, Wren posted a team-high seven kills while Williams and Hagerstrom both notched five successful attacks. The freshman from Bethpage also had six digs and four total blocks in the match. Smith dished out 20 assists to go along with six digs, and junior libero
Dakota O'Neill (Long Beach, N.Y.) posted a 12-dig match. The Drzymala sisters each collected nine kills in the win for Daemen as Apostol and Stephenson added eight kills and seven kills, respectively. Freshman outside hitter Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y.) had six kills for the Wildcats as well; first-year setter Bailey Dolegowski (Marilla, N.Y.) registered 19 assists and 10 digs in the victory with libero Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y.) accumulating a team-high 14 digs.
Daemen ended the match with a .337 hitting percentage, registering 43 kills in 98 attack attempts. Molloy, on the other hand, posted an attack percentage of .011 (23 kills in 90 attempts with 22 errors).
Molloy continues its Western New York swing on Saturday (Oct. 22) with a contest at Roberts Wesleyan in Rochester. First serve from the Voller Athletic Center is set for noon.
