Box Score 9/8/22
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – For the first time in nearly three years, Lackawanna College volleyball tasted victory, as the Falcons knocked off the Lehigh Carbon CC Cougars in a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-10, 25-11) on Thursday night at the Lackawanna Student Union in Region XIX play.
 
The Falcons (1-0) got a match-high ten kills from Melanie Pinillos (Miami, FL), while Hunter Heeman (New Milford, PA) and Makayla Jones (Weatherford, TX) each provided five service aces. Heeman was second on the team with five kills.
 
Set 1 (Lackawanna 25 – 17 Lehigh Carbon)
The Falcons raced to a 10-2 lead in the first set, buoyed by two straight service aces from Jones, and then three straight from Heeman. Pinillos got the first kill of the game to make it 11-2 when Delaney Hollenbeck (Kingsley, PA) set her up on the left side of the net, and Pinillos lofted a kill attempt up and over the blockers from Lehigh Carbon, breaking the Cougars serve. That was the first of ten points for the Falcons in the set, which ballooned their lead to 20-2.
 
The Cougars (0-2) would finally catch a break when the Falcons committed a service error, and, after some back-and-forth, scored six straight points to cut the Lackawanna lead to 20-9. Heeman broke the streak when she two-handed a ball over net that dropped in between defenders to make it 21-9.
 
The Falcons got a service ace from Brittney Shaffer (Gratz, PA) to make it 22-9, but Lehigh Carbon broke serve, the first of eight straight points, to get back into the set at 22-17. The Falcons got serve back after a net violation, and Hollenbeck set up Olivia Lynwood (Scranton, PA) with a kill that deflected off two Cougars to bring it to set point. Jones obliged with her third service ace of the set to seal it at 25-17 for the Falcons.
 
Set 2 (Lackawanna 25 – 10 Lehigh Carbon)
The second set looked much like the first, as the Falcons, after trailing 2-1, scored 12 straight points to get out to a 13-2 advantage. Pinillos was the one pacing the Falcons during the burst, providing four kills for Lackawanna.
 
Later, Lehigh Carbon went on a mini-run to close the gap to 16-7, but the Falcons broke serve, and the Cougars had several errors that allowed Lackawanna to stretch the lead out to 21-7.
 
With the scored at 21-10 and Lehigh Carbon serving, Jones dug one out to Hollenbeck, who lofted a pass back to Jones, leaping from the back row and slamming the ball down the middle of the Cougar defense, deflecting off two defenders to give the Falcons the 22-10 advantage. A hitting error, followed by a Heeman kill put Lackawanna on the brink for set two, and a service ace from Shaffer ended things at 25-10, putting Lackawanna up 2-0.
 
Set 3 (Lackawanna 25 – 11 Lehigh Carbon)
The Falcons lost the first point, but took the next six to jump out to a 6-1 lead in set three. The Cougars broke serve, but a service error, followed by a few more points, helped the Falcons balloon the lead to 9-2.
 
The teams traded serve back and forth, but a three-point swing helped the Cougars close the gap to 12-7. Lackawanna College bounced back by breaking serve when an errant pass was lofted over the net, where Delaney waited to smash it back down the middle, getting a kill when the ball deflected off a defender. That sparked a 6-1 run for the Falcons, where a few errors and a service ace from Jenna Krall (Susquehanna, PA) made it 18-8, Falcons.
 
Later, another Hollenbeck kill made it 19-10, Falcons, and was the start of another run for Lackawanna, as the lead grew to 24-10 after a Jones service ace. Lehigh Carbon broke serve, but the Cougars committed a service error to end the set and the match at 25-11, Falcons.
 
The win is the first for the Falcons under head volleyball coach Shelby Morgan, and the first Falcon victory since November of 2019.
 
Next Up
The Falcons have a quick turnaround, with their second match of the year coming up on Saturday, September 10^th, when they host the Delaware Tech CC Terry Hawks at 12:00pm in the Lackawanna Student Union. The match will be open to the public, and there will be a video livestream available at www.lackawannafalcons.com/LIVE.