By Peyton Johns, Sports Editor
Men’s Basketball
On Nov. 1, our Men’s basketball team started off their season strong with a victory of 75-69 over Lenoir-Rhyne College, hosted at Florida Southern College, continuing their 32 consecutive winning streak since last season. The weekend of Nov. 13, Daemen hosted the East Region Challenge, a four-team tournament including teams from the East Coast Conference, Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and the Northeast-10 Conference. Daemen faced Felician (W, 92-75) and Saint Anselm (W, 80-63).
On Nov. 17 and Nov. 18, Daemen hosted Fairmont State as part of an NCAA tournament. Both teams are two of the top-five ranked in all of NCAA Division II men’s basketball. Additionally, both started off their seasons undefeated. They continued their winning streak with a 75-63 victory. Nov. 24, the men defeated California (PA) 83-64, and on Nov. 25, they became the #3-ranked in the NABC Division II poll.
Still undefeated at 8-0, the men’s Basketball ECC home opener is on Friday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. against Queens College (2-3).
Women’s Basketball
The Women’s Basketball team started off their season strong with a 78-44 win in Delaware versus Wilmington University on Nov. 13. On Nov. 15, they dominated over Beacom College with a 96-61 win. Following this success, on Nov. 17, Senior Forward Claire Pikett was named ECC Co-Defensive Player of the Week. Although they were defeated 57-50 in a tough fought battle over Gannon University on Nov. 19, they came back strong with a win of 77-54 over Chestnut Hill on Nov. 23. An additional congratulations are for Senior Forward Cecilia Lapertosa on receiving both Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week that same week and for Ne’veah Buntley reaching a career high of 27 points during the women’s winning game of 66-61 over Holy Family.
Women’s Soccer
Nov. 3 was a big day for our Women’s Soccer team, with two players gaining ECC weekly awards. Dual athlete Kylie Miranto was named Offensive Player of the Week, and Becca Schultz was awarded Defensive Player of the Week. Additionally, an even greater honor was on Nov. 5 when seven players earned some well-deserved ECC Honors, with Kylie Miranto earning her third consecutive ECC Offensive Player of the Year award. Additional players who were honored are: Kaitlyn Wright, Macayla Hansen, Kaitlin Mettler, Ava Thompson, Becca Schultz, and Nevada Hahn. The team advanced to the ECC semifinals with a 2-1 win over Queens College on Nov. 6. Nov. 9 brought the women to Mercy for the ECC semifinals, where their season unfortunately came to an end with a 1-4 loss. Even after this loss, the women continued to celebrate with Kylie Miranto being named D2CCA First Team All-Region, and Becca Schultz, Brianne Repolio and Lily Macfarlane earned CSC Academic All-District Honors.
Women’s Volleyball
Starting the month strong, Senior outside hitter Nahirka Malpica was named ECC Women’s Volleyball Player of the Week. The women defeated St. Thomas Aquinas 3-1 on Nov. 8, and closed their regular season out on Nov. 13 with a win of 3-0 against Roberts Wesleyan University, leaving their record at 8-4 in the ECC. Both Keira Mullen and Nahirka Malpica were recognized for the All-ECC first and second teams. The women’s season came to an end with a 1-3 loss to Malloy University at the ECC Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinals on Nov. 21.
Men’s Cross Country
The Men’s Cross Country team placed sixth overall at the NCAA DII East Regional Championship on Nov. 8, with CJ Johnson finishing in the race’s top ten. Johnson additionally was offered a spot as one of the twenty-five individual qualifiers for the NCAA DII Men’s Cross Country National Championships. Finally, on Nov. 22, Johnson became the first male athlete to compete at the NCAA DII National Championships, finishing 211 out of 259, setting program history.
Women’s Cross Country
On Nov. 8, the Women’s Cross Country team finished fourth at the NCAA DII East Regional Championships.
Women’s Bowling
Women’s Bowling attended the Niagara Brunswick Fall Open, defeating Pitt-Bradford on Nov.1 and clinching two more victories on Nov. 2. They attended the Hilbert Hammer Classic on Nov. 22 and 23 and earned two wins to wrap up their season.