Lincoln Memorial University announced on Thursday, June 11th the hiring of Peyton McDaniel as the new head women's volleyball coach. McDaniel, a 2018 graduate of LMU, will become the ninth coach in Lady Railsplitters history.
McDaniel comes back to Harrogate after coaching for three seasons at NJCCA Cleveland State. She inherited a Cougar team that had 27 straight conference losses and led them to a conference win within their first five matches. Last season, the Cougars completed the turnaround and went 23-4 overall and an undefeated 12-0 conference record. It was Cleveland State's first Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) championship which led the Cougars to their first NJCAA regional tournament appearance in program history.
During McDaniel's time at Cleveland State, she coached three student athletes to first team All-TCCAA, four to second team All-TCCAA, and the 2025 TJCAA Freshman of the Year.
Before her time at Cleveland State, McDaniel spent time at the high school level coaching at Boyd-Buchanan School in Chattanooga, TN and Bearden High School in Knoxville, TN.
During her playing career at Lincoln Memorial, McDaniel played in 73 matches and was a part of four teams that went a combined 70-54 highlighted by the 2016 season in which the Lady Railsplitters went 25-9 and made it to the NCAA Southeast Regional. The 25 wins that season is still the most wins in a season in LMU history.
Away from the court, McDaniel is also a member of the United State Air Force Reserve as an Air Transportation Logistics Specialist. During her time with the Reserve, she has led ramp operations overseeing aircraft logistics and mission execution, managed passenger and cargo operations, and was named TBR 2025 Veteran of the Year.
