Geoff Schneider

Women's Volleyball Welcomes D'Youville, AIC To Lumsden This Week

9/30/2025 11:17:00 AM

By: CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Director of Athletics Communications | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

BACK TO BUSINESS
The Daemen University women's volleyball team stays at home for the second straight week as they host two games this week in Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats will host crosstown rival D'Youville University on Wednesday, Oct. 1 in a 6 PM East Coast Conference match up and wrap up the week with a non-conference match against the AIC Yellowjackets on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 4 PM.

FAMILIAR FACES
The head coaches on the other sides of the bench are no stranger to Daemen. D'Youville is coached by former Daemen women's volleyball player Allison Post (2017-21) who served as the team's graduate assistant from 2022-23 and helped establish the Wildcats as one of the premier teams in the East Region. AIC is coached by former Daemen head coach Eli Irizarry, who served as the Wildcats' head coach from 2022 to 2024 and led the Cats to three ECC regular season titles, two ECC tournament titles, and a 63-21 overall record in his tenure.

ECC OPENING WEEKEND
The Wildcats went 1-1 in their East Coast Conference opening weekend, first falling to Molloy University 1-3 on Saturday afternoon but rebounding with a 3-0 sweep over Queens College on Sunday morning. On Saturday, the Lions out-hit Daemen 59 to 42 on the day while hitting .309 and held the Cats to a .141 hitting percentage. The Wildcats were led offensively by freshman outside hitter Keira Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) with 13 kills on 30 attacks for a .267 clip while adding two total blocks – one solo. Sophomore right side Payton Gaylor (Bowmanville, Ont.) finished with nine kills and added four block assists, while senior outside hitter Nahirka Malpica (Caguas, P.R.) chipped in eight kills and a team-high 13 digs. Graduate student Avery Dole (Summerfield, N.C.) and junior Maddie Schamaun (Rockville, Md.) split setting today, with Schamaun totaling 19 assists and six digs and Dole finishing with 15 assists, four digs, one ace and one kill. In Sunday's win over Queens, the Wildcats hit well against the Knights, tallying 42 kills for a .252 clip while holding Queens to just 31 kills on 96 attacks for a .167 hitting percentage. Daemen finished the day with eight aces and out-blocked Queens 7 to 6 after totaling three solo blocks in the win. Malpica led the Wildcats offensively with 12 kills on 33 attacks and posted her fifth double-double of the season with 12 digs. Mullen was outstanding for the Cats today, totaling 11 kills with just one error on 19 attacks for a team-high .526 hitting percentage. Sophomore Avery Craig (Tomball, Tex.) led the Cats with four aces – three of which came in the first three serves of the match – and added 12 digs. Gaylor totaled eight kills along with two block assists, while freshman middle Solé Rancy (Columbus, Ohio) posted two solo blocks on the day.

WEEKLY AWARDS
For the second consecutive week, Keira Mullen was named the ECC Rookie of the Week. Mullen led the Wildcats offensively with 24 kills (3.43 kills/set) while hitting .396 in Daemen's 1-1 weekend. In Saturday's loss to Molloy, the freshman outside hitter finished with 13 kills on 30 attacks while hitting at a .267 clip and added three total blocks -- one solo -- and three digs. Mullen was a key part of Daemen's offensive prowess in the Wildcats' 3-0 sweep over Queens on Sunday morning, leading the Cats with a team-high .526 hitting percentage after tallying 11 kills with just one error on 19 attacks in Daemen's first ECC win of the season. She also added two digs to her stat line in the win over the Knights.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will travel to Erie, Pa. to take on Gannon University on Tuesday, Oct. 7 before returning to ECC action next weekend with a road trip downstate to face St. Thomas Aquinas (Oct. 11) and Mercy (Oct. 12).

SCOUTING THE SAINTS
After winning the program's first ever ECC Tournament title last season as the No. 4 seed, the Saints entered 2025 ranked No. 2 in the ECC Preseason Poll and come into Wednesday's game with a 4-8 overall record and 1-1 record after the first weekend of ECC play. Averaging 10.6 kills per set this season, the Saints are led offensively by junior outside hitter Madeline O'Brien with 110 kills who ranks sixth in the ECC with 2.89 kills/set. Sophomore middle blocker Maddy Boglev leads the league with a .370 hitting percentage and also leads the Saints at the net with 21 total blocks.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 11-2 all-time against D'Youville, but both Daemen losses came last season as the Cats split the regular season with the Saints and D'Youville beat Daemen 3-2 in the ECC semifinals en route to winning the ECC Tournament.

SCOUTING THE YELLOWJACKETS
A perennial powerhouse in the East Region, this marks the fifth straight season that AIC and Daemen will face off. The Yellowjackets come into this weekend's match with a 5-3 overall record and a 3-0 record against ECC teams so far this season, sweeping Roberts Wesleyan and Molloy and taking down Queens, 3-1. Prior to their match with Daemen on Saturday afternoon, AIC will face D'Youville on Saturday morning. On the year, Irizarry's Yellowjackets are averaging 10.8 kills per set and have spread out the attack, with eight players recording 20+ kills so far this season. Junior outside hitter Janelys Perez Cortes leads the AIC offense with 84 kills (3.23 kills/set) while graduate outside hitter Paola Soto Burgos has chipped in 58 kills (2.52/set) this season. Junior middle blocker Renata Mijovic leads the way with 19 blocks (1.19/set) as one of four Yellowjackets with double-digit blocks this season.

SERIES HISTORY
Daemen is 4-5 all-time against AIC but has won three of the last four matches between the two teams, including a 3-0 sweep in the Bentley tournament last season.

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 University women's volleyball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWVB.

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