James P. McCoy

Wildcats Trek To Erie For Showdown With Gannon

10/6/2025 3:30:00 PM

HEADED TO THE KEYSTONE STATE
The Daemen University women's volleyball team makes the 90-mile trek southwest to Erie, just across the Pennsylvania State line, to face perennial powerhouse Gannon. It marks the 10th straight season that the two teams will meet. The Wildcats and Golden Knights have combined for 14 NCAA tournament berths in that time span.

LAST WEEK'S SPLIT AGAINST SOME FAMILIAR FACES
The Wildcats posted a 1-1 record last week while seeing some familiar faces along the way. Freshman outside hitter/right side Keira Mullen powered down 17 kills and senior outside hitter Nahirka Malpica posted a double-double (11 kills, 15 digs) to lead Daemen past crosstown rival D'Youville in four sets on Oct. 1. The win avenged Daemen's loss to the Saints in the last season's ECC Championship semifinals, and it came against first-year DYU head coach Allison Post who played at Daemen from 2017-21, before joining the coaching staff from 2021-23. However, former Daemen head coach Eli Irizarry (2022-24) made a successful return to Lumsden Gymnasium as his AIC Yellow Jackets picked up a 3-0 win over the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon. Malpica and Payton Gaylor recorded eight kills apiece, and Kate Trueblood posted four service aces to lead the Wildcats in defeat.

M&M'S
Nahirka Malpica and Keira Mullen continue to pace the Daemen offensive attack this season. Malpica leads the team with 187 kills and ranks fourth among the ECC leaders in kills per set (3.28). Mullen isn't far behind, totaling 166 kills and ranking fifth in the conference for kills per set (3.02). Only five players in the ECC are averaging at least 3.0 kills per set.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
On the defensive side of the ball, freshman middle blocker Solé Rancy and sophomore defensive specialist Jarielys Giraud have made an impact for Daemen this season. Rancy is one of just two players in the ECC to be averaging at least 1.0 blocks set; she ranks second among the league leaders (1.02 blocks/set). Giraud has carried the weight in Daemen's back row, averaging 3.08 digs per set (4th among ECC leaders), with help from Nahirka Malpica (2.70 digs/set, 9th in ECC).

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
A perennial powerhouse in the Atlantic Region, Gannon rides a six-match winning streak into Tuesday's non-conference affair with Daemen. The Golden Knights are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Pitt-Johnstown this past weekend, and they feature a balanced offensive attack with six players averaging at least 2.0 kills per set. Junior outside hitter Nehir Yazicioglu leads the group, averaging 2.82 kills per set on a .250 hitting percentage. Head coach Matt Darling is in his 19th season at the helm, and is the winningest coach in program history with over 440 career wins and having led the Golden Knights to 15 NCAA tournament berths, including a run to the Elite Eight last season.

SERIES HISTORY
Gannon holds a 17-1 advantage in the all-time series. Daemen will be looking for its first win over Gannon since Sept. 1, 1998 - the first recorded meeting in the series. The teams have met at least once in every season dating back to 2016. Two of the last five meetings have gone to five sets.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to ECC play this coming weekend as they'll travel downstate to face St. Thomas Aquinas (Saturday, Oct. 19, 12 p.m.) and Mercy (Sunday, Oct. 12, 12 p.m.).

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