Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 10/28/23

SCRANTON, Pa. -- Lackawanna College women's volleyball didn't let its opportunity go to the wayside, as the Falcons won a pair of matches to clinch their first Region XIX DII tournament championship in 17 years on Saturday afternoon inside the Lackawanna College Student Union.
 
The Falcons (14-9) had to get by two familiar opponents from Region XIX play, downing Delaware Tech CC in a sweep (25-19, 27-25, 25-14) in the semi-final round in the morning, before knocking off second-seed County College of Morris by a 3-1 margin (25-23, 21-25, 25-17, 25-15) in the championship match in the afternoon.
 
The first match with Delaware Tech proved to be a little closer than the final result would indicate. Twice, the defending champions from Delaware jumped out to leads in the first and second set, and twice, the Falcons rallied to come back for the win. Delaware Tech (7-14) held a 17-14 lead late in the first set, when Lackawanna went on a run thanks to two Del Tech mistakes, followed by a kill from Zaliyah Small (First Year; Scranton, PA), which tied the set. Later, with the score tied at 18 and Angelique Fuentes (First Year; Miami, FL) serving, Lackawanna went on a run, taking advantage of some more mistakes from DTCC and an ace from Fuentes. Nadia Toth (First Year; East Benton, PA) had a kill, then Fuentes added another ace, and then Del Tech had another error that put Lackawanna on the brink of the first set win. Delaware Tech managed to score a point on a kill, but the Falcons got the win when the Delaware Tech serve hit the net, completing an 11-2 run by Lackawanna to close out the set.
 
The second set was a nightmare, early, for Lackawanna, as Delaware Tech owned the net and raced to a 14-4 lead. The visitors were dominant up front, relying on their blocking to keep the Falcons offense from getting going. Later, facing a 16-7 deficit, Lackawanna got a break when an overpass from Fuentes landed for a kill. April Martindell (First Year; Pocono Mountain, PA) then put three straight service aces on the board to bring it to 16-11, and force a timeout. Later, with Delaware Tech ahead 21-14, a bad overpass on the Del Tech serve resulted in the visitors finding the empty spot in the Lackawanna defense to make it 22-14 and forcing a Lackawanna timeout. That's when the Falcons mounted a miraculous comeback. It started with a serve error, letting Maddilyn Durfee (First Year; Buffalo, NY) step up to serve. A double-touch from Delaware Tech cut it to six, and back-to-back aces from Durfee made it 22-18. That was all part of a 9-2 run that tied the set at 23. An ace from Toth put the Falcons on set point, but Delaware Tech battled back to even. Twice more, the Falcons would be at set point, before finally cashing in when a Fuentes kill put them on the brink, and another Fuentes kill attempt deflected off the block for the wild win.
 
Delaware Tech had an early advantage in set three, but the Falcons quickly fought back and began to build a lead for the first time on the day, turning a 4-2 deficit into a 14-8 lead, taking advantage of a pair of kills from Toth and four service aces, as well as some mistakes from Del Tech. The Falcons swelled the lead further, keeping Delaware Tech at about an eight-or-nine-point cushion through the rest of the set. Leading 20-12, Alasiah Carter (First Year; Coatesville, PA) took over on serve, and the Falcons continued to build, with a few more mistakes from Del Tech and an ace from Carter. A Toth kill got Lackawanna on the brink, and fittingly, she ended it with her sixth kill of the third set to put Lackawanna into the final.
 
County College of Morris (7-9) was set to play against SUNY Ulster CC in the second semi-final, but the Senators forfeited the match and never showed, propelling the Titans into the championship match against Lackawanna.
 
Morris held an early advantage, leading by a 17-11 margin at one point and forcing a Lackawanna timeout. But, the Falcons answered back, getting a kill from Gabriela Gomez (First Year; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) got the Falcons serve and gave Lackawanna a little momentum. Fuentes put in back-to-back kills, and Gomez got another to make it a two-point deficit and forcing a timeout. Morris managed to hang onto the two-point advantage until an illegal touch made it 19-18, and then a hitting error tied the set at 20. Morris extended the lead back out to 22-19, but, as they had done throughout the day, the Falcons fought back, scoring six of the next seven points, highlighted by a pair of kills from Fuentes and block and a kill from Zaliyah Small (First Year; Scranton, PA) to give the Falcons the win.
 
The visitors built an early 7-3 lead, but Lackawanna closed the gap and took a brief 9-8 lead. Morris then went on a run, leaning on its blocking defense at the net, and running off a 7-1 run to lead by five at 15-10. The lead ballooned out to 20-13, and every time it seemed like the Falcons might have an answer brewing, the Titans countered, eventually taking the second set to tie it up when Toth got blocked at the net and the Falcons couldn't return it.
 
The pivotal third set saw Lackawanna fall behind 4-2, then get back out in front at 7-5. At one point, the Falcons led 12-10 and won a long rally when the Titans pounded a shot that flew way past the backline. So, with serve and leading 13-10, Zoe Ortueta (First Year; Miami, FL) got the Falcons going on serve, with a few mistakes from Morris sprinkled in. It was all part of an 8-0 run, turning a two-point advantage into a ten-point cushion. Morris managed to close in as close as five points, but the Falcons eventually pulled away for the 25-17 victory and the 2-1 match lead.
 
In the fourth set, the Falcons were the ones jumping out in front, scoring the first three points of the set. Morris battled back to get it to 4-3, but the Falcons went on a tear from there, taking advantage of some self-inflicted wounds from Morris, as well as an emphatic kill from Fuentes, an ace from Toth, and a kill from Gomez that made it 10-3, Falcons, forcing a timeout from the Titans. Another Toth ace made it 11-3 and eight straight from Lackawanna, but then it was Morris's turn to streak, scoring five straight points to get it to 11-8 and force a Falcons' timeout. A block at the net made it 11-9, and then a kill down the pipe marked seven straight points and made it just an 11-10 Lackawanna lead. Fuentes gets a kill, and the Falcons started to build a lead, but were found to be out of rotation on serve, which changed the score from 15-10 to just 12-11, and gave serve back to Morris. Once things were smoothed out, the Falcons managed to go on another spurt, helped on by some mistakes from the Titans. It went from 12-12 to 23-12, as the Falcons scored eleven straight points. Morris eventually broke serve, but it would be too little, too late. Fuentes got a kill to put Lackawanna on championship point, but serve was broken by Morris at 24-15. But, it would only serve to delay the inevitable, as Lackawanna earned the title on the next point on an error from Morris, giving Lackawanna its first Region XIX championship since 2006.
 
The Falcons advance to the Mid-Atlantic District Championship match, set for next Saturday, November 4^th, at the Lackawanna Student Union, against the champion from Region XX.