9/16/22
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College women's volleyball team will look to end a three-game skid when they entertain the Spartans of Northampton CC on Saturday, September 17^th at 11:00am ET inside the Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.
 
The match is open to the public and admission is free for spectators. If you can't make the match, there will be a video livestream available via the Lackawanna College and Region 19 Sports Network at lackawannafalcons.com/LIVE.
 
About The Falcons
Lackawanna College (1-3) comes into the match on the wrong end of a three-match losing streak, having most recently dropped a 3-0 decision to Montgomery County CC this past Thursday evening. The Falcons struggled in the first set, dropping behind by ten points and never truly recovering, losing 25-16. The second and third sets were much closer, but the Mustangs had the edge in kills and made fewer mistakes, winning 25-23 and 25-21 to sweep the Falcons. Read the recap from that match HERE.
 
Lackawanna College is led by middle-hitter Hunter Heeman (New Milford, PA), who has a team-high 20 kills on the season. Heeman had eight kills and 18 digs last Saturday against Delaware Tech, and had three kills, and a pair of service aces in the match against Montco.
 
Libero Melanie Pinillos (Miami, FL) has been playing a little bit of everything so far this year, and is second on the team with eleven kills this season, including a team-best seven in the win over Lehigh Carbon last week. Pinillos had a team-high 24 digs in the match-up with Delaware Tech, and is third on the team with five service aces so far this season.
 
Outside hitter Delaney Hollenbeck (Kingsley, PA) is second on the team with six service aces this season, and leads the team in assists with 17 helpers on the year. She also has five kills on the season for the Falcons.
 
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
Northampton (3-1) may prove to be the toughest test for the Falcons yet this year. The Spartans have won three straight including dominant wins over Lehigh Carbon, Montco, and, most recently, Harcum College. In the win against Harcum, Northampton won 25-13, 25-16, 25-14, Jordan Appleton led the way with ten kills on 24 attacks, while Emerald Walker and Ayana Bomani each had seven kills. Bomani was one of three players with double-digit digs, coming up with a team-best 18 digs, and Meghan Speshok led the way with 23 assists.
 
Appleton is the team leader with 42 kills on the year, averaging just over ten kills per match. Appleton is second on the team with 42 digs on the year, as well as nine service aces. Bomani is second on the team with 32 kills, and leads the Spartans with 63 digs on the season. She's also the best blocker, with 12 solo blocks and 13 block assists this year.
 
Speshok leads the team with 89 assists on the year, averaging over 22 assists per match, and leads the team in service aces with 17 this year. She has 28 digs, in a three-way tie for third on the team.  
 
The head coach for Northampton CC is Rachael Caywood, entering her second year at the helm for the Spartans. Caywood is a local product from Nazareth who played at Northampton CC, a key member of their back-to-back tournament squads in 2015 and 2016. Caywood went 3-10 last season, but had the Spartans finishing strong, winning three of her last five matches to finish the year.   
 
Match Details
The match is set for an 11:00am ET start on Saturday, September 17^th, inside the Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium in Scranton, PA. The match is open to the public, and admission is free to spectators. There will be a video livestream available for those who cannot attend via the Region 19 Sports Network and the Lackawanna College Athletics Network via lackawannafalcons.com/LIVE. You can also access the stream via the Region 19 Sports Network app, available on Apple and Android, and also on Roku.