2026 NEC Women's Volleyball Preseason Coaches Poll                   1. LIU (6)                 2. FDU (1)                 3. Mercyhurst                 4. CCSU                 5. (tie) New Haven (1)                     Stonehill                 7. Le Moyne                 8. Chicago State                First place votes in parentheses

Bridgewater, NJ — The most decorated team in NEC women’s volleyball annals is gearing up for another banner-raising season in 2026. 
 
Adding the program’s league-leading 12th NEC Tournament trophy to its already stacked case in Brooklyn in 2025, LIU has been pegged the favorite to win-it-all once again in 2026, according to the annual preseason poll conducted by the conference’s head coaches.
 
The Sharks, who look to become the first NEC squad to run it back as NEC champs since they pulled off a repeat in 2016 and 2017, hauled in six first-place votes to finish atop of the NEC Preseason Coaches’ Poll for the second-straight year.
 
After qualifying for three of the past four NEC finals, highlighted by the program’s historic first championship in 2022, FDU nabbed one top vote to come in second in the projected order-of-finish. 
 
Mercyhurst, which made the program’s first-ever NEC Tournament appearance in its first season of conference postseason eligibility in 2025, was slotted to finish third in the preseason poll while Central Connecticut was picked fourth after a year that saw the Blue Devils come away with the most wins against league foes (8) since going 10-6 in 2019. 
 
New Haven hauled in the final first-place vote to finish in a tie for fifth with Stonehill. The Chargers and Skyhawks were followed in the poll by Le Moyne and Chicago State, which checked in at seventh and eighth, respectively. 
 
Another NEC Tournament championship for the Sharks would also make a splash in the conference recordbooks. 
 
If the preseason predictions come to fruition, second-year head coach Tony Trifonov would become the first NEC head coach since LIU’s Kyle Robinson — and the fifth in conference history — to string together three consecutive tournament championships (2012, 2013, 2014). 
 
Trifonov already etched his name in NEC women’s volleyball history when he became the first head coach to direct two different teams to an NEC Championship. His title run began in the Windy City in 2024, when he piloted Chicago State to the tournament championship in the Cougars’ inaugural season as an NEC member.
 
There will be no lack of firepower for Trifonov and the Sharks in 2026, as a trio of All-NEC all-stars are set to make their return to the court in 2026.
 
Highlighting that list is the reigning NEC Defensive Player of the Year, junior libero Miabella Musignac (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Colegio Adianez). The All-NEC first teamer topped the NEC charts in digs last season after delivering 414, a whopping 105 more than the next closest competitor in the rankings. 
 
Senior outside hitter Sara van Gisteren (Leuth, Netherlands/Young Talent Academy, ROC Nijmegan (Indian Hills, CC)), who hit her stride during LIU’s NEC Tournament run to walk away with MVP honors, is coming off an All-NEC First Team campaign after she dropped 3.88 kills per contest while junior linemate Bella Correia (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colégio Marista Glória), the 2024 NEC Rookie of the Year, averaged 2.72 kills per match to make it an All-NEC second team repeat in her second year in Brooklyn in 2025.
 
With a new — but familiar — face at the helm in Hackensack, FDU looks to build on an impressive stretch of success that saw the Knights string together four-straight top three finishes in the NEC standings for the first time ever. Amable Martinez, who previously coached in the NEC for seven years as head skipper of St. Francis Brooklyn (2019-22) and LIU (2023-25), makes his return to the conference with his eyes set on bringing the Knights back to the mountaintop of the league in 2026. 
 
Despite the graduation of two of the program’s three All-NEC picks from a year ago, the future looks bright for FDU with the return of sophomore Alessia Zampieri (Vicenza, Italy/Liceo Blaise Pascal, Chieri). The Italian-born right-side hitter burst onto the scene a year ago, putting up 192 kills and 69 blocks to become the first NEC Rookie of the Year to hail from Hackensack in a quarter century. Zampieri also earned the distinction as the only first-year all-star to land an all-conference spot, taking home second team recognition in 2025.
 
A youthful New Haven roster consisting of 15 underclassmen — including nine rookies — came away with four NEC victories in the program’s inaugural Division I campaign in 2025. The Chargers, who are now eligible to compete in the NEC Tournament, will look to make even more of a push this season under the direction of Melanie Greene, who enters her first season as New Haven’s head coach in 2026. 
 
The 2026 NEC Women’s Volleyball Championship will feature the top four teams in the conference standings. The tournament will be held at the site of the home seeds on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21.
 
After completing its transition to Division I, Le Moyne is now eligible to earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Mercyhurst and New Haven cannot qualify for the NCAA Tournament until they complete their Division I reclassification.
 
About The NEC
Now in its 46th season, the NEC is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Chicago (#3), Boston (#9). Hartford/New Haven (#32) and Syracuse (#88). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 25 sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 17 different NCAA Championships. NEC full member institutions include Central Connecticut, Chicago State, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Mercyhurst, New Haven, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.necsports.com) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.