WEST BABYLON, N.Y. – The seven head volleyball coaches of the East Coast Conference have predicted a third straight conference title for Daemen as the Wildcats took the top spot in the league's 2023 preseason poll released on Wednesday. Additionally, Daemen senior outside hitter Maggie Burns (Louisville, Ky.) was selected as the league's Preseason Player of the Year.
Coming off a 2022 season in which the Wildcats finished 20-9 overall, went undefeated (10-0) in the ECC, claimed the ECC regular-season and tournament titles, and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament, Daemen received five of seven first-place votes to top the poll with 46 points. Daemen has gone undefeated in ECC regular-season play the last two seasons and has won 23-straight regular-season conference matches dating back to the end of the 2019 campaign. The Wildcats have participated in the NCAA Division II Tournament four of the last six years and claimed the NCAA Tournament East Region title in 2021.
Daemen returns five All-Conference selections from last season's championship roster in 2022 ECC Player of the Year Burns, 2022 ECC Co-Setter of the Year Olivia Alessi, libero Jasmine Brundage, middle blocker Vanessa Kuliga, and outside hitter/right side Giselle Giraud as the Wildcats begin the season having received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association/Taraflex Division II Top 25 poll.
Burns is coming off of a standout junior campaign in which she led the conference with 3.49 kills per set and 4.0 points per set while ranking third with 213 total kills. A two-time All-Conference selection, Burns ranked in the ECC's top 10 with a .240 hitting percentage (8th) and 3.23 digs per set (7th) and went on to earn AVCA All-Region and D2CCA All-region recognition.
Mercy and Molloy tie for second in the poll with 38 points and one first-place vote apiece.
Paced by four returning All-Conference honorees in 2022 ECC Co-Setter of the Year Yarianne Gonzalez, outside hitter Larissa Schneid Lopes, outside hitter/right side Anyelainy Vizcaino Araujo, and middle blocker Julia Pomerleau, Mercy will look to continue its recent run of success that has seen the Mavericks advance to each of the past three ECC Championship semifinals.
Molloy has advanced to the last five ECC Championships and twice won the tournament in that span, in 2017 and 2019. Outside hitter Kiarra Roth returns for the Lions having earned All-Conference First Team honors last fall.
Queens is the final expected playoff team with a fourth-place nod.
2023 ECC Women's Volleyball Preseason Poll
| School | Pts. | 2022 Record |
| 1. Daemen (5) | 46 | 20-6 (10-0 ECC) |
| T-2. Mercy (1) | 38 | 13-7 (6-4 ECC) |
| T-2. Molloy (1) | 38 | 16-12 (6-4 ECC) |
| 4. Queens | 31 | 12-13 (6-4 ECC) |
| 5. D'Youville | 18 | 4-23 (0-10 ECC) |
| 6. Roberts Wesleyan | 15 | 4-19 (2-8 ECC) |
| 7. St. Thomas Aquinas | 10 | First Season |
( ) - first place votes
ECC Preseason Player of the Year: Maggie Burns, Sr., OH, Daemen
