AMHERST, N.Y. – The D'Youville University Women's Volleyball team won their first ever Division II ECC Conference game on Friday evening after defeating #1 seed Daemen University 3-2.

#4 D'Youville University 3 at #1 Daemen University 2 – (25-20, 19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-11)
Set One
The Wildcats controlled the first set early leading 8-4, but the Saints fought hard putting together a six-point run to take the 10-8 lead. Maddie Boglev (Hamburg, N.Y. / St. Mary's), Madeline O'Brien (East Amherst, N.Y. / Clarence), Mitha Hatwar (Columbus, OH / Olentangy Liberty), and Giselle Ramirez (Miami, FL. / School for Advanced Studies) all played roles in the ten-point run for the Saints. The Wildcats worked to stay in the game, but the Saints continued to keep control until they led 22-18. Daemen got two points back to stay alive, but a kill from Emma Wlostowski (Alden, N.Y. / Alden) along with two Wildcat errors gave the Saints the 25-20 win in set one.

Set Two
The Saints carried their momentum into set two taking the 9-6 lead quickly. The Wildcats put together a four-point run to take the 10-9 lead. Daemen would go on to extend their lead to 21-15, but the Saints fought back with kills from Giselle Ramirez and Maddie Boglev to trail 21-18. The Wildcats put up three in-a-row to go up 24-18. Maddy O'Brien recorded the final kill for the Saints before Daemen took the second set 25-19.

Set Three
Daemen jumped up 5-3 in the third set, but the Saints found their momentum and put up an 11-1 run to take a commanding 14-6 lead. D'Youville kept the ball rolling going on another 5-2 run to jump up 19-8. Daemen turned their offense back on and came within three at 24-21, but the Saints would take the final point to win the third set 25-21.

Set Four
The back-and-forth battle continued as Daemen took an 11-4 lead in the fourth set to stay alive in the match. As the Wildcats continued to climb, the Saints fought hard to stay in the game and after a five-point run featuring three kills from Cameron Ulinski (Parkland, FL / Marjory Stoneman Douglas) the Saints trailed by one at 16-15. After the Wildcats got one back, kills from Mitha Hatwar and Alex Darby (Huntington, WV / Spring Valley) the Saints managed to tie the game at 17. Daemen took the lead after going on a 5-1 run. Madeline O'Brien and Cameron Ulinski both provided kills to keep the Saints close, but Daemen would take the final two points to take the fourth set 25-21 and send the match to the fifth set.

Set Five
It looked as though the Wildcats may have had the momentum to win, but the Saints fought hard and after a kill from Giselle Ramirez, the game was tied at five. The Wildcats retook the lead and jumped up 8-6 as the teams' switched sides. D'Youville put up a 5-1 run to take the 10-8 lead and then extended their lead to 14-10 following an ace from Emma Wlostowski. The Wildcats fought for one final point, but a kill from Cameron Ulinski would send the Saints to victory at 15-11. The Saints took the 3-2 win over the #1 seed Daemen University to stay alive in playoffs.

Up Next
The Saints are back for the ECC Championship tomorrow. The Saints will face off with the winner of #2 Queens College and #3 Mercy University at 5:00 PM at Daemen University.