9/30/22
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College women's volleyball team will take a big step up in competition on Saturday, October 1^st, when the Falcons travel to the capital of the Keystone State to take on the nationally ranked Harrisburg Area CC Hawks for a 12:00pm ET match in Region 19. The match is set for a 12:00pm ET start on Saturday afternoon. If you can't make it down to the match, fans can watch via the Harrisburg Area Athletics Twitch channel HERE.
 
About The Falcons
Lackawanna College (2-5) comes into Saturday's match-up after snapping its five-match losing streak with a sweep at Lehigh Carbon CC this past Tuesday night, winning 25-14, 25-23, and 25-17. You can read the recap from that match HERE.
 
Hitting errors have plagued Lackawanna this year, with the Falcons amassing 99 kills, along with 93 errors heading into their match with Lehigh Carbon. They average around 5.5 kills per set. Falcon opponents are averaging around .185 in hitting percentage, and score about 8 kills per set. The Falcons had 45 service aces on the season going into the match against Lehigh Carbon, averaging 2.5 per set, and have 292 digs on the season, a 16.2 digs per set clip.
 
Hunter Heeman (New Milford, PA) has a team-best 55 kills so far this season, and now has three straight matches with double-digit kills. Heeman has had six or more kills in six of her seven matches this year. Heeman also has hit double-digit digs in four of her six matches on the season, heading into her match with Lehigh Carbon. Against Lehigh Carbon, Heeman had 12 kills.
 
Makayla Jones (Weatherford, TX) is second on the team with 25 kills on the season. Jones set a season-high for kills last week, her second straight match doing so, when she went for seven kills against Harcum College. Jones now has more kills in her last three matches (17) than she did in her first four matches combined (8). She had also hit double-figures in digs in three of last four matches heading into the match with Lehigh Carbon. Against Lehigh Carbon, Jones had four kills, three digs, and three aces.  
 
Melanie Pinillos (Miami, FL) is fourth on the team with 14 kills this year, and leads the team with 17 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 four of her seven matches this season, crossing the 20-dig barrier twice. Pinillos had a season-high seven kills in the opener against Lehigh Carbon. She had six digs and four service aces in against Lehigh Carbon earlier this week.  
 
Delaney Hollnebeck (Kingsley, PA) has 16 kills so far this season, third on the team, and is also third on the team with eleven service aces on the season. Hollenbeck leads the Falcons with 68 assists this season, crossing double-figures in four matches this season. Hollenbeck has hit double-figures in assists in her last three matches. Hollenbeck has hit her season-best in assists in her last two matches, twice going for 16 assists. She also had four kills and four service aces against Lehigh Carbon on Tuesday.   
 
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
Harrisburg Area CC (9-0) comes into the contest as the #5 ranked team in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III rankings this past week. The Hawks are one of two Region 19 teams ranked inside the top-15, with Raritan Valley CC coming in at #15. Harrisburg has defeated Raritan twice this year. In their last match, the Hawks defeated Harcum College 3-1 (25-13, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21) on Thursday evening to remain unbeaten. Harrisburg hit .252 for the match, going for a combined 12 service aces and putting three separate players in double-figures for kills. Taylor Beeler led the way with 16 kills on 30 attempts, tied for the team-lead with three service aces on the evening. Tennison McGraw added 15 kills on 33 attempts, also providing three service aces for the Hawks. Kyla Kolivoski had the team-high 51 assists, while Sydnee Wishard had a team-best 23 digs and a pair of service aces.
 
The Hawks are led by middle blocker Mackenzie Maass, who has 99 total kills on the year, averaging just over 3.5 kills per set. Maass is hitting at a .404 clip on the year, and is third on the team with 14 service aces this season. She's also second on the team with 20 solo blocks, and 22 total blocks on the year. Six times she's had double-digit kills, including a season-best 17 kills in a 3-1 win over Montgomery County CC last week. She had a season-best five solo blocks against Queensborough Community College to start the season. She had 13 kills on 23 attacks, a .478 hitting percentage, in the win over Harcum.
 
Beeler is right behind Maass with 97 kills on the year, but has a better kill per set average (3.59 to 3.54), having played one less set. Beeler is hitting at .290 on the season, and has a team-best 25 service aces this season. She also has 82 digs, good for fourth on the team. Beeler has hit double-figures in kills on four separate occasions, including her last two matches. She had a season-best 18 kills, as well as a season-high five service aces, in a win over Northampton earlier this year. Beeler had 16 kills and a season-high 15 digs in the win over Harcum College on Thursday.
 
Kendall Wales is third on the team with 53 kills so far this season, averaging just over 2.2 kills per set on the season. Wales is hitting around .271 on the season, and has 26 digs and seven service aces on the season. She had a season-high 12 kills in the win over Montgomery County CC earlier this season. She did not play in the last match against Harcum College.
 
McGraw has 45 kills on the year, fourth on the team, averaging 1.7 kills per set. McGraw has eight service aces this year, and has ten solo blocks, good for third on the team. McGraw really stepped up against Harcum, going for her season-high 15 kills and hitting .303 for the match. She also had a season-high three service aces against the Bears.
 
Emma Ruth is the top blocker for the Hawks, denying a team-best 23 shots by herself. Ruth has 20 kills on the year for Harrisburg. She had her season-high in the first match of the year, with nine solo blocks against Queensborough Community College. Against Harcum, she tied her season-best with five kills, and came up with four solo blocks on the night.
 
Kolivoski is the team-leader in assists, with 350 helpers on the year, averaging around 12.5 assists per set. She's third on the team with 89 digs on the season. She's hit her season-high in kills on three separate occasions, including in her last match against Harcum, with two kills. She has dished out double-digit assists in every match this season, including a season-best 51 in the match with Harcum. She's also hit double-figures in digs five separate times this season, with 21 being her season-best against Raritan Valley earlier this season.
 
Ashley NyeSmith is second on the team with 18 service aces on the year, and leads the team in digs with 132 on the year. NyeSmith had a season-best six service aces come against Raritan Valley earlier this year, where she also had her season-high in digs with 30. She's hit double-figures in digs in eight of nine matches this year, and has recorded one kill in six of her nine matches. Against Harcum College, NyeSmith had a kill on three attempts, as well as a service ace and 12 digs in the win over the Bears.
 
Tom Frye is the head coach at Harrisburg Area CC, now in his seventh season and eighth overall year with the Hawks. Frye has won EPAC Coach of the Year in four straight seasons, dating back to 2017. He's also twice been awarded NJCAA Division III District L and North Atlantic A District in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Harrisburg is a three-time defending EPAC champion under Frye, reached the Region 19 tournament six times, and appeared in the Final Four on three occasions. Frye came to Harrisburg after coaching at West Shore YMCA and Sport City. He spent many years coaching both boys and girls volleyball, and also spent some time at York Towne Volleyball Club and Red Land High School. Frye is a graduate of the Altoona School of Commerce, where he earned an Associate's degree in Business, Administration and Management.  
 
Match Details
The match is set for a 12:00pm ET start on Saturday, October 1^st inside the J.W. Evans Physical Education Center on the campus of Harrisburg Area CC in Harrisburg, PA. There will be a video livestream available to watch, via the Harrisburg Area CC Athletics Twitch channel HERE.