NIAGARA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Niagara University Director of Athletics Simon Gray has named Donna Day as the head coach of the volleyball program. Day has served as an assistant coach for the program for the last two seasons.
“Donna has been instrumental in our volleyball program’s success each of the last two seasons,” Gray said. “Her past experience as a head coach, vision for how our program can grow, familiarity with our current team, and connection to our impressive recruiting class made her stand out during our search. Donna has already established strong relationships throughout our campus community and I believe that she is an excellent fit with the mission of our athletics department and Niagara University.”
Day joined the staff for the 2016 season and helped guide the Purple Eagles to a 24-12 record in the MAAC. Niagara finished the 2017 season with an 18-10 overall record and a 14-4 MAAC record to earn a No. 2 seed in the 2017 MAAC Tournament. As an assistant coach, Day was involved with practice plans, match preparation, developing and evaluating student-athletes, and recruiting.
“I feel very honored to be selected as the next head volleyball coach at Niagara University,” Day said. “I would like to thank Father Maher and Director of Athletics Simon Gray for trusting me to lead this program. I look forward to building on the success of the last few seasons and I am excited to see what Niagara volleyball can become!”
Day arrived to the program with several years of collegiate and club volleyball coaching experience.
She served as the women’s volleyball head coach at Ursuline College, an NCAA Division II program in Pepper Pike, Ohio, from 2006-13. During her eight seasons leading the program, 25 student-athletes earned all-conference accolades while the team ranked nationally in digs and aces. In the classroom, 22 student-athletes received scholar-athlete recognition with the team earning American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Academic Team Honors each season.
Day held a supervisory role as a local tournament director, juniors’ club director and juniors’ coach in the Ohio Valley Region of USA Volleyball. She also worked as a coach and director of the Pinnacle Volleyball Club in Broadview Heights, Ohio. Day began her volleyball coaching career in 2004 as the High Performance Department intern for USA Volleyball in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Day graduated from Cleveland State University with a bachelor of science in Middle Childhood Education in 2002 and earned her master of education, Cum Laude, from Cleveland State in Education (Sport Management and Sport Psychology) in 2004.
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