AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Daemen University women's volleyball was selected third in the 2026 East Coast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, the league announced on Wednesday. The preseason poll was voted on by the seven head coaches in the conference. 

The reigning ECC champion Mercy University Mavericks earned all seven first-place votes and finished atop the poll with 49 points. Additionally, Mercy's junior outside hitter Grace Dilena was named the Preseason Player of the Year. The Wildcats garnered 37 total points in the poll, just one point behind second-place Molloy University (38 points). D'Youville University (29), Roberts Wesleyan University (15), St. Thomas Aquinas College (14) and Queens College (14) round out the rest of the conference. 

In the first year under head coach Kaysie Shebeneck in 2025, Daemen posted a 12-14 overall record and 8-4 record in ECC action, only dropping conference matches to the top two teams in the ECC, Mercy and Molloy. The Wildcats advanced to the ECC Tournament for the seventh straight season where they fell to the eventual runners-up Molloy Lions. Boasting a roster of 17 this season, 10 players return from the 2025 squad, including heavy-hitting juniors Payton Gaylor (Bowmanville, Ont.) and Avery Craig (Tomball, Tex.) as well as seniors Kate Trueblood (Granger, Ind.), Molly Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Maddie Schamaun (Rockville, Md.). Junior libero Jarielys Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) returns to anchor the defense again this season. Shebeneck added seven newcomers to the 2026 squad that are sure to make an immediate impact. Transfers Mina Faw (Williamburg, Va.) and Jolie Faw (Williamsburg, Va.) bring Division I experience after spending their freshman campaign at Norfolk State, while Tyler Junior College product Dayden Dyess (Wylie, Tex.) brings the height as the fifth player on the team over six feet tall. Incoming freshmen Etana Murray (Binghamton, N.Y.), Audrey Johnson (Mequon, Wisc.), Peyton Lowes (Northville, Mich.) and Mollie Berry (Evergreen Park, Ill.) have shown out during the preseason and look to make their way into the starting lineup this season. 

The Wildcats are set to play 26 matches during the 2026 campaign and kick the year off with three road tournaments before returning to Lumsden Gymnasium on September 19. Daemen opens the year with four matches over two days at Clarion's Tony Banner Memorial Tournament next weekend where they will play Shippensburg and Clarion on Friday, Aug. 28 and Franklin Pierce and West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday, Aug. 29. THe Wildcats open ECC play on the road at St. Thomas Aquinas on Oct. 3.