Lancaster leans on returning experience entering 2026 boys volleyball season

Overview

• Lancaster is coming off a 12-5 season in 2025-26, according to HighSchoolSports.org’s published results.
• The roster brings back a large group with varsity experience, including seniors Thomas Blenski, Nathan Vona, Liam Hayden, Gavin Tylenda, Gavin Surdej, Michael Kapsiak, Ford Inglet, Roland Daniels, Chase Vrenna and Nathan White.
• Lancaster opens with St. Joseph's and Sweet Home at Java Gym before a Sept. 14 trip to Clarence and a three-match home stretch against Canisius, Frontier and Williamsville North.

Lancaster Boys Volleyball Pre-season Preview

Lancaster enters the 2026 boys volleyball season with a clear piece of context: last fall raised the bar.

The team went 12-5 in 2025-26, according to the published HighSchoolSports.org results, and now coach Jason Stang's group gets another chance to build around a roster with plenty of familiar names.

That group includes seniors Thomas Blenski, Nathan Vona, Liam Hayden, Gavin Tylenda, Gavin Surdej, Michael Kapsiak, Ford Inglet, Roland Daniels, Chase Vrenna and Nathan White. Cole Schweizer, a Class of 2028 outside hitter, also returns with varsity experience.

The positional mix gives Lancaster options across the floor. Blenski, Tylenda and White are listed with setter responsibilities, while Inglet and Daniels are defensive specialists or libero options. Vona, Hayden, Kapsiak, Schweizer, Surdej and Vrenna give the team names across the pins and middle as Lancaster works toward its early-season rotation.

The schedule starts at home with St. Joseph's on Sept. 8 and Sweet Home on Sept. 10 at Lancaster High School's Java Gym. A Sept. 14 match at Clarence is an immediate measuring point, followed by home dates with Canisius on Sept. 18, Frontier on Sept. 22 and Williamsville North on Sept. 24.

The back half of the listed schedule sends Lancaster on the road for Orchard Park, Sweet Home, West Seneca East, Frontier, Starpoint and Williamsville North, with home matches against Clarence, Williamsville East, Orchard Park and Grand Island mixed in. The final listed match is Oct. 28 against Grand Island at Java Gym.

For Lancaster, the preseason story is experience and continuity. The next step is turning that into the kind of steady week-to-week play that can carry through a demanding WNY schedule.