CLARION, Pa. – The Daemen University women's volleyball team opened up the 2026 campaign with a pair of matches at the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament hosted by Clarion University on Friday. The Wildcats dropped both matches in Friday's contests, falling in a 0-3 loss to Shippensburg in their season opener in a 0-3 loss and ending the day with a heartbreaking 2-3 loss to host Clarion.
SHIPPENSBURG 3, DAEMEN 0
The Wildcats lost in straight sets, 0-3 (16-25, 12-25, 29-31) to Shippensburg in the tournament opener on Friday morning to open the season 0-1. The Raiders narrowly outhit Daemen 40-39 along with hitting at a .243 clip while holding the Wildcats to a .189 hitting percentage. Daemen's best set was in the third where the Cats finished with 20 kills and just one error on 51 attacks to hit at .373.
The opening set began with Daemen and Shippensburg exchanging points, but the Raiders capitalized on the Wildcats' errors to establish an early lead. Juniors
Vera Tops (Senagallia, Italy) and
Payton Gaylor (Bowmanville, Ont.) contributed with a block and a kill, respectively, helping Daemen briefly take a two-point advantage. Shippensburg responded from there with a series of kills, pushing ahead to 18-11. Freshman
Audrey Johnson (Mequon, Wisc.) and sophomore
Mina Faw (Williamsburg, VA.) managed to add points for Daemen, but Shippensburg maintained control and took the first set 25-16.
Daemen began the second set with a 5-1 lead, but the Raiders quickly put together an 8-1 run to take the 12-10 advantage and never relinquished the lead from there. Shippensburg closed out the set decisively at 25-12 with two final kills, taking full advantage of Daemen's errors and maintaining control.
In a tightly contested third set, Shippensburg edged out Daemen with a 31-29 victory. Daemen senior
Molly Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) made a significant impact with multiple kills, including one that tied the score at 26-26. Junior
Olivia Urbon (Chicago, Ill.) contributed a critical service ace to bring Daemen back into contention at 16-16. In extra points, the Wildcats took a 29-28 lead, but Shippensburg tallied the three final points off a service error and back-to-back kills to take the set 31-29 and the match, 3-0.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Senior Molly Ryan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) finished with eight kills and a team-high .538 hitting percentage, adding 13 assists and four digs.
- Sophomore outside hitter Mina Faw (Williamsburg, VA.) was the sole Wildcat to tally double-digit kills, totaling 11kills while hitting .348 and adding one block assist to finish with 11.5 points.
- Sophomore middle blocker Jolie Faw (Williamsburg, VA.) tallied eight kills with just one error on 17 attacks to hit at a .412 clip, adding three block assists on the day.
- Senior setter Maddie Schamaun (Rockville, Md.) led the way with 20 assists and added four digs.
- Junior libero Jarielys Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) finished with a team-high 12 digs.
CLARION 3, DAEMEN 2
Daemen dropped a heartbreaker in five sets, 2-3 (25-21, 21-25, 18-25, 25-18, 9-15) to the host Golden Eagles in Friday night's match up. The Wildcats battled back down 2-1 to win the fourth set and force a fifth, but the hosts held off Daemen's late run to win the fifth set and the match. Both Daemen and Clarion hit 37 kills, but it was attacking errors (42) that killed the Wildcats offensively in the tilt.
The first set began with Clarion jumping out to a 4-1 lead. The Wildcats answered back, leveling the score at 4-4 after consecutive service aces by
Avery Craig (Tomball, Tex.). After Clarion took a 19-15 advantage late, Daemen rallied, scoring seven of the next nine points, with
Jolie Faw contributing a key kill to take a 22-20 lead. Wildcats capitalized on Clarion's errors and secured a 25-21 victory.
The Golden Eagles again took an early lead, 7-2, after two kills and aces and three Wildcat errors. Daemen rallied back to tie the score at 10-10, highlighted by a service ace from
Jarielys Giraud. The teams traded points closely until Clarion surged ahead with a service to bring the score to 22-19. Despite an attack error that allowed Daemen to close in at 24-21, the Golden Eagles sealed the set with a kill to win it 25-21 and tie the match up a one a piece.
The Wildcats surged to a 6-0 lead in the third set, sparked by a kill from
Payton Gaylor and a pair of service aces by
Molly Ryan.
Jolie Faw added to the momentum with a kill and a block assist. Clarion then mounted a significant comeback, capitalizing on Daemen's errors and eventually overtaking the Wildcats with a 15-13 advantage. The Wildcats put together a late push by Daemen and brought the game within one, 16-15, but Clarion closed the set out winning nine of the last 12 points to take the set 25-18.
Up 2-1 in the match, Clarion continued their run in the fourth set, jumping out to a 7-2 advantage. The Wildcats battled back, with
Audrey Johnson contributing consecutive kills, and
Mollie Berry (Evergreen Park, Ill.) adding a crucial service ace to tie the set at 9-9. A series of Clarion errors allowed Daemen to extend its lead to 13-9. Ryan's serving continued to put pressure on Clarion, resulting in back-to-back aces and a 21-15 lead for Daemen. Gaylor's kill, assisted by Craig, sealed the set for the Wildcats at 25-18 to send it to a fifth.
Down early, Daemen fought back to tie the fifth up at 4-4, with
Jolie Faw contributing a kill and Gaylor and Amelia Gonzalez (Juana Diaz, P.R.) executing effective blocks. However, Clarion pulled ahead with a series of Daemen attack errors, building a 10-4 advantage. The Wildcats brought the game within four, 8-12, but the Golden Eagles' lead was too much to overcome as Clarion won the fifth 15-9 to win the match 3-2.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Freshman outside hitter Audrey Johnson led the Wildcats with nine kills and added 12 digs, one block and one assist.
- Mina Faw finished with eight kills, six blocks and two digs.
- Jolie Faw totaled seven kills, a team-high seven blocks and three digs.
- Senior middle blocker Amelia Gonzalez posted six blocks, three kills for a .333 clip, three digs and one assist.
- Both Jarielys Giraud and Molly Ryan totaled 19 digs. Ryan posted a double-double, finishing with 14 assists and four kills on the night.
- Freshman setter Peyton Lowes (Northville, Mich.) added 14 assists, six digs and one kill.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will play two matches on Saturday, closing out the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament with a noon match against Franklin Pierce and a 5:30 PM match up against West Virginia Wesleyan.
