Box Score 9/27/22
 
SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. – Lackawanna College women's volleyball snapped a five-match losing skid with a resounding 3-0 sweep (25-14, 25-23, 25-17) over Lehigh Carbon CC in Schnecksville, PA on Tuesday evening. It marks the second time this season the Falcons have defeated the Cougars in straight sets.
 
The Falcons (2-5) withstood a pair of furious rallies from the Cougars (0-8) in the second and third sets to hang on for the sweep. Hunter Heeman (New Milford, PA) led the way with a team-high 12 kills, while Delaney Hollenbeck (Kingsley, PA) and Makayla Jones (Weatherford, TX) each added four kills of their own. Hollenbeck had a team-best 16 assists, and she was tied for the team lead with Melanie Pinillos (Miami, FL) at four service aces in the match.
 
In set one, the Falcons jumped out to a 5-1 advantage, buoyed by a pair of errors from the Cougars, a kill apiece from Hollenbeck and Heeman, and a service ace from Jones. Both teams traded points back and forth, with errors playing a major role in points scored for both teams. A Heeman kill pushed the Falcons to a 15-to-9 lead, forcing a timeout from Lehigh Carbon. Another Heeman kill was the first point scored out of that timeout. Jones and Nadia Monteiro combined for a block at the net for another point, and three straight service aces from Hollenbeck pushed the Falcons ahead 20-to-9. The Falcons had it at 24-11 and were serving for match point, but an error, followed by a block and a kill provided a little momentum for Lehigh Carbon to cut it to 24-14. The Falcons managed to find set point when a kill attempt from the Cougars hit the net, giving Lackawanna the 25-14 set one win.
 
The Falcons kept things going at the start of set two, jumping out to a 6-0 advantage thanks to some good service from Pinillos, with several service aces, forcing a timeout from the Cougars. Out of the timeout, a service error got Lehigh Carbon on the board, and, slowly but surely, the Cougars started to get back into the set. They'd close the gap as close as two, several times in the early portion of the set, but the Falcons would always seem to respond to stretch the lead back to three, only for the Cougars to make it two on the next play.
 
Lackawanna College managed to push the lead out to 14-9, but the Cougars went on a run to close the gap to 14-13, forcing a timeout from the Falcons. The timeout was effective, as Hollenbeck combined with Jones for a kill, followed by a service ace, and then a kill from Heeman to push the lead back out to four. Lehigh Carbon would rally back, tying the set up at 19-all after a hitting error on Lackawanna. A few points later, the Cougars got the lead at 21-20, thanks to another attack error from the Falcons. Both teams traded points, and the Falcons were on the wrong end of a 23-22 score, needing a shift. Jones dove to stop a serve from hitting the floor, and a Pinillos over-pass was mishandled by the Lehigh Carbon defense, allowing the Falcons to tie things up. Jones then scored on a kill off a pass from Heeman to put the Falcons in front, and got another one as she deflected an attempt off the block attempt from Lehigh Carbon, giving the Falcons a 25-23 win in set two.
 
The third set saw both teams trade points back-and-forth to start things off. Both teams went point-for-point to where it was 9-all, when a Monteiro kill got the Falcons the lead at 10-9. On the next play, a Hollenbeck pass found Heeman on the left side, and her kill attempt deflected off the Lehigh block for a point. Monteiro got another point when her kill attempt bounced off several Cougars, giving the Falcons a small amount of breathing space at 12-9.
 
A few errors pushed the Falcon lead to 14-10, forcing a timeout from Lehigh Carbon. Out of the timeout, both teams traded points, with the Falcons maintaining a four-point gap. A Jones kill pushed the lead to 19-14, and a Pinillos service ace made it 20-14, forcing another timeout from Lehigh Carbon. Out of the timeout, a kill, followed by an error on the Falcons, got the Cougars back to within four, A hitting error got the Falcons serve back, and a Jones service ace pushed the lead back out to 22-16. A kill from Lehigh Carbon got the Cougars serve back, but Hollenbeck set up Heeman with a kill to make it 23-17 and get serve back to the Falcons. Hollenbeck promptly hit a service ace to force match point, and the Falcons clinched the win when a kill attempt from the Cougars went long, giving Lackawanna the 25-17 win and the match sweep.
 
Next up, the Falcons have a road match at nationally ranked Harrisburg Area CC on Saturday, October 1^st. The Hawks are the #5 team in the latest NJCAA Division III rankings. The match is set for a 12:00pm ET start inside the Evans P.E. Center on the campus of Harrisburg Area CC.