AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Daemen University women's volleyball team will play 26 matches in the 2026 season, head coach
Kaysie Shebeneck announced today. The Wildcats will travel to play in three tournaments to open the season before returning to Lumsden Gymnasium for their home opener on Sept. 19, the first of eight home matches this season. Daemen will open East Coast Conference play on Oct. 3 with the first of 12 conference matches as they look to regain the ECC regular season title for the fifth time in six seasons.
The Wildcats will open the 2026 campaign in Clarion, Pa. playing four matches at the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament, hosted by Clarion University, for the first time since 2023. Daemen will face Shippensburg University and Clarion on Friday, Aug. 28 and wrap up the tournament on Saturday, Aug. 29 with matches against Franklin Pierce University and West Virginia Wesleyan College.
The following weekend, Daemen returns to the Crimson Hawk Classic hosted by Indiana University (Pa.) for the first time since 2024, playing four matches in two days over the weekend of Sept. 4-5. On Friday, the Wildcats will take on Lake Erie College and West Liberty University in a pair of neutral site matches before facing Ashland University and host IUP on Saturday in Indiana, Pa.
Daemen wraps up their tournament schedule the weekend of Sept. 11-12 at the Wildcat Regional Invitational in New Castle, Del. hosted by Wilmington University. The Wildcats will face Holy Family University and Saint Anselm University on Friday and take on Adelphi University and Wilmington in Saturday's matches.
The Wildcats make their Lumdsen Gymnasium debut on Saturday, Sept. 19 as they play host to Saint Michael's. Daemen closes out the non-conference slate the following Tuesday against Slippery Rock in a midweek matchup.
Daemen opens ECC action on the road downstate the weekend of Oct. 3-4 with matches against St. Thomas Aquinas College (Saturday, Oct. 3) and Mercy (Sunday, Oct. 4) before returning to Western New York on Wednesday, Oct. 7 to host Roberts Wesleyan University and closing out the week on Sunday, Oct. 11 across town at D'Youville University. Daemen will host STAC and Mercy on Oct. 17 and 18, respectively. The following weekend, the Cats again return to the City to play at Molloy University (Saturday, Oct. 24) and Queens College (Sunday, Oct. 25).
Three of Daemen's final four matches of the season will be played at Lumsden Gymnasium, and all four will be in Western New York. The Wildcats will host crosstown rival D'Youville on Wednesday, Oct. 28, then travel to Roberts Wesleyan on Sunday, Nov. 1. Daemen wraps up the regular season the following weekend, taking on Molloy on Saturday, Nov. 7 and hosting Queens in the regular season finale on Sunday, Nov. 8 with Senior Day celebrations to take place before the start of the match.
The East Coast Conference tournament will be hosted by the regular season champion the weekend of Nov. 13-14.
Daemen returns 11 players from the 2025 squad that finished third in the ECC (8-4 record) and 12-14 overall in Shebeneck's first season as head coach of the Wildcats. Key returners include rising junior right side
Payton Gaylor (Bowmanville, Ont.) who played in all 26 matches and was third on the team offensively with 197 kills (2.10 per set) and 47 blocks (0.50 per set), as well as libero
Jarielys Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) who averaged 2.83 digs per set (218 total) and finished with 20 aces on the year.
Molly Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) returns for her senior season after transitioning from a setter to more of a Swiss army knife for the Wildcats, totaling 65 kills, 164 assists, 26 blocks and 51 digs.
