10/11/22
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College women's volleyball team gets back to work on Tuesday, October 11^th, when the Falcons host a tri-match with the Bears from Harcum College and the Titans from County College of Morris in the Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.
 
The Falcons will play Harcum at 3:30pm ET, and then Harcum and Morris will play the following match at 5:00pm ET. The final match of the day will be between Lackawanna and Morris at 6:30pm ET. The matches will be open and free to attend to the public. All three matches will be streamed live on lackawannafalcons.com/LIVE, as well as the Region 19 Sports Network app.
 
The Falcons fell in both their previous meetings with the Bears and the Titans. Against Morris, Lackawanna dropped a 3-0 match, but did so by narrow margins in every set, including a 27-25 third set. Against Harcum, the Falcons battled in all three sets, but the Bears won in a 3-0 sweep at Harcum.
 
About The Falcons
Lackawanna College (2-10) has dropped its last five matches, including its most recent two matches against Delaware Tech and Cecil College, as part of a tri-match at Delaware Tech CC this past Saturday. The Falcons took a set from Del Tech to knot things up at 1-1, but dropped the third and fourth sets to fall 3-1 in their first match this past weekend. In their match with Cecil, the Falcons took the first set, and were poised to take the second one, before a killer run from the Eagles tied the match. From there, Cecil won the third with little trouble, and then the fourth in a 26-24 thriller. You can read the match recap HERE.
 
The Falcons have steadily improved their hitting percentage as the season has gone on, now amassing over 180 kills to over 140 errors on the year. They average around 5.6 kills per set. Falcon opponents are averaging around .204 in hitting percentage, and score just shy of 9 kills per set. The Falcons have over 70 service aces on the season, averaging 2.4 per set, and have nearly 500 digs on the season, a 15.3 digs per set clip.
 
Hunter Heeman (New Milford, PA) is the team leader in kills so far this year, and has hit double-digits in kills in nearly half her matches this season. Heeman had six or more kills in seven of her ten matches, heading into the match-ups with Del Tech and Cecil. Heeman also has hit double-digit digs in at least six matches this year. Heeman had nine kills on 51 attempts in the match against Delaware Tech, while putting up 19 digs. Against Morris earlier this year, she had seven kills on 28 attempts, with ten digs and a solo block. Against Harcum, Heeman had ten kills on 37 attacks, putting up 16 digs and a service ace.
 
Makayla Jones (Weatherford, TX) is second on the team in kills this year. Jones set a season-high for kills last week, her second straight match doing so, when she went for seven kills against Harcum College. She has also hit double-figures in digs in seven of her last ten matches this season. Jones had five kills on 37 attacks in the match against Delaware Tech, digging out 11 attacks for the Falcons. In her first match against Morris, Jones had two kills on 19 attempts, and had 20 digs against the Titans. Against Harcum, Jones had seven kills on 31 attacks, with 18 digs earlier this year.   
 
Melanie Pinillos (Miami, FL) is fourth on the team in kills this season, and leads the team with over 20 service aces this season. As Pinillos has settled more into her role as libero, her kills have gone down, but her digs have shot up, hitting double-figures in eight matches this season, crossing the 20-dig barrier three times. Pinillos had a season-high seven kills in the opener against Lehigh Carbon. She had two service aces and a 22 digs in the match against Delaware Tech this past weekend. Against Morris earlier this season, she had four kills on 33 attempts, digging out 14 attacks. Against, Harcum, she had a season-best five service aces and 21 digs.   
 
Delaney Hollenbeck (Kingsley, PA) is third on the team in kills this season, and is second on the team with over 15 service aces this year. Hollenbeck leads the Falcons with over 100 assists this season, crossing double-figures in seven matches on the year, including six of her last seven appearances. Hollenbeck has hit her season-best with 19 assists in the win at Lehigh Carbon. Hollenbeck had 15 assists and three service aces, as well as eleven digs and a kill against Delaware Tech. She had three kills and three service aces against Morris earlier this season. She put up two kills and 16 assists in the loss to Harcum earlier this season.   
 
The head coach for the Falcons is Shelby Morgan, in her first season at the helm. Morgan previously spent seven seasons as the head coach at Cedar Crest College, where she helped transform the Falcons from a conference basement dweller into a perennial threat, culminating in an NCAA tournament appearance in 2021.
 
About The Opponents
The first opponent for the day will be Harcum College (4-9), which comes into the contest after knocking off Delaware Tech in five sets in their last match, 3-2, back on October 6^th. The Bears had 47 kills in that match, and came up with 18 service aces to stymie the Terry Hawks and pull out the win.
 
Samantha Lachette is the top attacker for the Bears, averaging 8.6 kills per match, and leading the team with 132 kills on the year. Lachette has a team-high 229 digs this year, which includes the Cecil match where she put up 37 digs. Lachette has hit double-figures in kills on seven different occasions, going for a season-high 20 against Cecil College. She's had double-digit digs in all but two matches on the year. Against Delaware Tech, Lachette had 16 kills on 59 attacks, along with a pair of service aces and 29 digs in the win. Against Lackawanna, she had eleven kills on 29 attempts and put up 17 digs against the Falcons.
 
Pamela Uceta is second on the team in kills, with 109 so far this season, averaging a team-best 10.2 kills per match this season. Uceta is tied for second on the team with 146 digs, and has 13 service aces on the season. Uceta had missed the first four matches of the year to start the season, but has rounded into game shape quickly, topping double-digits in kills on six different occasions, including her last four matches. Uceta set season-highs in kills (22) and digs (28) in the win over Delaware Tech. Against Lackawanna, she had 12 kills on 23 attempts, digging out eleven attacks from the Falcons.
 
Cristina Chubok is third on the team in kills this season, and is tied with Uceta for second on the team with 146 digs this year. Chubok leads the Bears with 15 service aces on the year. She has topped double-digit digs in nine of her ten appearances this year, including her last eight matches. Against Del Tech, she had a season-best six kills on 18 attempts, digging out 24 attacks. In the match against Lackawanna, she had set her previous season-high of five kills in the win over the Falcons.  
 
Dineyska Alvarez Santon is fourth on the team in kills this season. She has 119 digs, fourth on the team, and has ten service aces on the year. She has four matches with double-digit digs on the year, with a season-high 25 digs in a loss to Cecil College. Against Del Tech, Santon had four service aces, a season-high, in the win. Against Lackawanna, she put up two kills on eight attempts and four digs in the win.   
 
Kandey Torres is the assists-leader for the Bears, putting up 116 helpers on the year. Torres set a season-high 47 assists in the win over Del Tech, putting up three kills on nine attacks and digging out seven attacks. Against Lackawanna, she had a pair of digs in the victory.  
 
The Bears are led by Cassaundra Kleespies, now in her second season, and third year at Harcum. Kleespies joined the Bears in the summer of 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. She helped guide Harcum to a 9-6 record last season. Kleespies has been coaching volleyball basically since her college graduation in 2012. Kleespies has spent time coaching at three different high schools in Ohio and PA, as well as youth volleyball coaching. She coaches with Synergy Volleyball as an instructor. She graduated with a 3.8 GPA from Toledo, where she was a conference leader in the MAC in hitting percentage during her junior and senior years with the Rockets. Went to HS in PA at Avon Grove, where she helped AG to a quarterfinal appearance in the PIAA playoffs, and made multiple all-state teams.  
 
The second opponent of the weekend will be County College of Morris. The Titans (4-3) have won three of their last four matches, including two straight over Bergen and Middlesex College. Morris won both matches 3-1. Klaudia Podgorna led the way in both matches, with ten kills in the win over Bergen, and nine kills over Middlesex.
 
The Titans average around 33.3 kills per match, and are hitting just over .112 on the season. Morris has 58 service aces this season, and 24 total blocks.
 
Podgorna leads the Titans with 52 kills this season, averaging 7.4 kills per match this season, hitting .216 on the year. Podgorna has hit double-figures in kills twice this year, both times coming in the last four matches. Podgorna has 38 kills in her last four matches. She had nine kills on 20 attacks against Middlesex, along with six digs and two solo blocks. Against Lackawanna, she had four kills on 22 attacks in the victory.
 
Andrea Pintar is second on the team with 46 kills this season, averaging 6.6 kills per match this year. Pintar set her season-high ten kills against Middlesex in her last match, and has seen her kills rise in her last five matches. Pintar had six kills on 19 attacks in the match against Lackawanna College.
 
Antonella Maffei is third on the team with 43 kills in six matches this year, averaging 7.2 kills per match on the season. Maffei is tied for second on the team with ten service aces this year, and is tied for the team lead in digs with Dana Ospina with 80 on the year. Maffei has hit double-digits in digs on four separate occasions this year, setting a season-high with 24 digs in the loss to Del Tech earlier this season. Maffei had six kills on 21 attempts, as well as a service ace and 13 digs, in the win over Middlesex. Against Lackawanna, she had a season-high 13 kills on 26 attempts, hitting a season-best .346, while digging out eight Falcon attacks in the win.
 
Dana Ospina is fourth on the team with 41 kills in seven matches this season, averaging 5.9 kills per match on the year. Ospina is tied with Maffei for the team lead in digs at 80 this season, and is fifth on the team with eight service aces this year. She's crossed double-figures in digs four different times this year, putting up season-highs in kills (9) and digs (19) in the loss to Delaware Tech earlier this season. Ospina had seven kills on 23 attacks and seven digs in the win over Middlesex. She had four kills on 19 attacks and eight digs in the win over Lackawanna.
 
The head coach for County College of Morris is Corey Meyer.  
 
Match Details
The Falcons will play Harcum at 3:30pm ET, and then Harcum and Morris will play the following match at 5:00pm ET. The final match of the day will be between Lackawanna and Morris at 6:30pm ET. The matches will be open and free to attend to the public. All three matches will be streamed live on www.lackawannafalcons.com/LIVE, as well as the Region 19 Sports Network app.
 
Lackawanna College has one more match on the regular season schedule, when they host Harrisburg Area CC on Saturday, October 15^th, inside the Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium. That match is set for a 12:00pm ET start.