10/11/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College women's volleyball has a pair of matches this weekend at home, as the Falcons are set to host Penn State Scranton and Lehigh Carbon CC in tri-match action at home inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium on Saturday, October 12^th.
 
The first match will pit Lackawanna and the local Penn State commonwealth campus, with the first serve at 10:00am ET. The second match of the day will have the Nittany Lions square off with the Cougars from Lehigh Carbon CC, starting at approximately 12:00pm ET. Then, the final match of the day will be an EPAC tussle between Lackawanna and LCCC, starting at approximately 2:00pm ET. This will mark the second time the Falcons and Cougars have met, with LCCC taking the last matchup in five sets at home. You can read the recap HERE.
 
Admission is free and open to the public throughout the morning and afternoon sessions on Saturday. There will be a pay-per-view video livestream available via the Lackawanna College Athletics Network at lackawannafalcons.com/LIVE.
 
About The Falcons
Lackawanna College (14-4, 8-1 EPAC) has won six of its last eight matches, and four straight heading into the weekend. In their last match, Lackawanna swept past fellow EPAC and Region XIX DII school Harcum College, 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-14) on Tuesday evening in Bryn Mawr, PA. You can read the recap HERE.
 
This year, the Falcons are hitting at a collective .144 clip, averaging 10.6 kills per set this season, which is first among all Region XIX teams. The Falcons have 199 aces in 18 contests, averaging 2.97 aces per set, eighth in the region. They're also up to 17.8 digs per set so far this year. Opponents are hitting .111 on the year and have 101 aces vs. 154 errors on serve so far this season. The Falcons are at 0.9 blocks per set, and their opponents are at 1.7 blocks per set.
 
First-year outside hitter Jana Hofmann (Colorado Springs, CO) leads the squad this season with 187 kills through 18 matches. Hofmann is also first on the team with 64 service aces and is third on the team with 210 digs. She's hitting at a .199 clip, first on the team among players with 300 or more attacks, and she's averaging 2.8 kills per set. Hofmann has double-digit kills in ten matches this season, hitting her season-high of 20 last weekend against Northampton. She had 20 kills on .300 hitting, with 12 digs and a solo block, to help the Falcons beat Northampton. She had 18 kills in a five-set win against Penn State Hazleton on September 14^th, where she hit .200 and had three aces and 21 digs. Her most efficient hitting day came against Cecil, putting up 14 kills on .406. Hofmann was deadly on serve against Westchester, putting up a season-best 13 aces in the straight-set victory. Hofmann was recently named EPAC Player of the Week in women's volleyball, putting up a combined 40 kills, ten aces, and 32 digs in three matches last week. She had 12 kills on 29 attempts for .276 hitting, with six aces and 13 digs in the win at Harcum. She had 18 kills on .226 hitting in the five-set loss to Lehigh Carbon two weeks ago.
 
First-year outside hitter Aryana Girvan (Clarion, PA) is second on the team with 147 kills this year, hitting .125 through 18 matches this year. That's third on the team among players with 300 or more attacks. Girvan has 33 service aces, second on the team, and 223 digs so far this season, also second on the squad. Girvan is averaging 2.23 kills per set, and has six matches with double-digit kills this season, all in six of her last nine matches. Girvan put up her season-high of 22 kills against Lehigh Carbon on 9/28, hitting .275 and putting up 16 digs and three service aces in the loss to the Cougars. She had 20 kills on September 14^th in a win against PSU Hazleton, on a season-high 59 attacks. She also had 22 digs. Girvan has nine matches with double-digit digs, putting up a season-high 26 digs against Montco on 10/2, while also putting up three kills and four aces. Her best serving match came against Morris, where she posted five aces. Girvan had five kills and four aces, along with eight digs, in the three-set win against Harcum on Tuesday.
 
Sophomore middle hitter Nadia Toth (Dalton, PA) is third on the team with 108 kills so far this season, hitting at .194, second best on the team among players with 300 or more attacks. Toth has 15 service aces so far on the season, fifth on the squad. Toth had 35 aces last year. She averages 1.64 kills per set, and her 28 total blocks this season are first on the team. She also has 51 digs this year. Toth had a team-best 12 kills against PSU Hazleton earlier this season, hitting .323 in the match. She has twice gone over double digits for kills, putting up ten in the win against Delaware Tech on September 13^th. She had a season-high five digs and three total blocks in the five-set win over PSU Hazleton on September 14^th. She had a season-best six total blocks, including four solo blocks, against Harrisburg Area CC. Toth had nine kills on .161 hitting with two block assists and two digs in the loss to Lehigh Carbon on 9/28. She had seven kills on .467 hitting with four digs in the win at Harcum on Tuesday.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Alasiah Cater (Coatesville, PA) has double-digit kills on the year with 82 through her 18 matches. Carter is hitting .061 on the season, and has eleven total blocks this year, fourth on the team. She has 45 digs and nine block assists on the year. She hit her season-high ten kills in the win against Delaware Tech last weekend, hitting .350 on 20 attacks, and putting up three digs. She had a season-high eleven digs and six kills in the win against Northampton CC last weekend. Carter had 3 kills on 17 attacks I the win against Harcum on Tuesday. She had four kills and a dig in the loss to Lehigh Carbon CC back on 9/28.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Angelique Fuentes (Miami, FL) has 75 kills through her first 15 matches. She has 23 service aces, fourth on the team, 20 digs, and eleven total blocks on the year. Fuentes hit a season-high with nine kills in the win against Montco on September 7^th, where she hit .500. She had six kills on .444 hitting in the win against Westchester. She had five kills on .167 hitting, with five aces, in the win against Morris on September 10^th. Fuentes had seven kills on .316 hitting with an ace and four digs in the win against Harcum. She has gone for five or more kills in six of her last seven matches. Fuentes had six kills and four digs in the loss to Lehigh Carbon CC back on 9/28. She led the team last year with over 200 kills. She averaged a little over 2.5 kills per set last year, and hit .150, second on the team. Fuentes had eleven matches with double-digits in kills, with a season-high 20 coming against Chesapeake last season. She had a season-best eight service aces against Delaware Tech earlier in the season and led last year's team with 51 service aces on the year. Fuentes was a first-team All-EPAC selection last season.
 
First-year middle hitter Neurdia Osias (Huntington Station, NY) has been the most efficient hitter for the Falcons this year, hitting at a .212 clip this season with 44 kills. Osias is second on the team with 14 total blocks this year, including eleven block assists. Neurdia had a combined 14 kills in two matches against PSU Hazleton and Cecil, including eight kills on .412 hitting against Hazleton at home. She followed that up with six kills on .545 hitting in the sweep over Cecil College. She was dominant at the net against Delaware Tech, putting up a season-high five total blocks, including four block assists, in the win for the Falcons on 9/13. She had eight kills in three sets against Harcum on 9/21 but left with an injury late in the third set. She had missed the last five matches before Tuesday's match at Harcum, where she had a kill for the Falcons in the win. She did not play against Lehigh Carbon CC in the first matchup.
 
Sophomore setter Maddilyn Durfee (Buffalo, NY) leads the team with 352 assists on the year, and has 27 service aces, third on the team. Durfee also has 108 digs on the year, fifth on the team. She has reached double-digit assists in 17 of 18 matches this year, with a season-and-career-best 39 coming in the five-set loss to Cairn on September 19^th. Durfee also put up her season-high of eleven digs against the Highlanders. She had a combined 50 assists in the tri-match sweep for the Falcons against Montco and Westchester on September 7^th. Durfee had a combined 40 assists and three aces, along with 15 digs, in the sweep against Harcum and HACC, putting up 25 assists and ten digs to beat Harcum. She had a combined 50 assists, four aces, and eleven digs in the wins against Del Tech and Northampton last weekend. She had 12 assists and two aces in the win against Harcum on Tuesday. She had 22 assists and eight digs in the loss to Lehigh Carbon back on 9/28. Durfee was the main table-setter for Lackawanna a year ago, putting up nearly 500 assists for the Falcons. Durfee averaged just under six assists per set, still managed to put up 40 kills, and had 36 service aces on the year. She had 13 matches with 20 or more assists, and seven matches with 30 or more. Her best came against Chesapeake, where she dished out 37 helpers for the Falcons. Durfee was third on the team with just under 200 digs on the year and had double-digit digs eight times. Her season-best was 20 digs, which she did twice in matches against Bergen CC and Montgomery County CC.
 
The head coach is Shelby Reese, now in her third season at the helm of the Falcons. Reese took over in 2022 and had to re-tool from a roster that was limited the year before, and a program that had been dormant after the pandemic before that. Reese helped the Falcons leap forward, winning their first match in nearly three years in her first season, then winning 14 matches and a Region XIX championship, the first in 17 years, in year two. Before coming to Lackawanna as the Athletic Academic Advisor in 2021, Reese was the head coach at Cedar Crest College for seven years. There, under similar circumstances, she took over a program that needed rehabbing, and turned the Falcons into a perennial conference contender, culminating in a 20-win season in her final year, which included a conference championship and an NCAA Division III tournament appearance. Reese is 31-26 in her time at Lackawanna and won 86 matches in seven years at Cedar Crest.
 
About PSU Scranton
The Nittany Lions (0-11) have not won a set this season. They fell in their last match, a sweep against PSU Hazleton, this past Thursday night. The squad from Scranton actually led 2-1 through the first three points, but Hazleton scored 24 straight points to win the first. It was more of the same through the following two sets. PSU Scranton had a pair of service errors, but struggled on serve receive, giving up 39 aces to Hazleton.
 
Scranton has 15 kills on the year, with 138 attack errors. The Nittany Lions have 19 aces and 32 service errors this season. They have given up 321 aces this year. The Nittany Lions have 67 digs, a 2.23 digs per set average.
 
Sophomore Maddie Langdon leads the team with seven kills this season. Langdon is hitting -.426, and has an assist, three aces, and eight digs this season. Langdon's season-high came against Manor College on September 30^th, where she had four kills in the loss.
 
Junior Saige Duncan has four kills this year, hitting -.457 with a team-high five aces and ten digs. Duncan has four matches with one kill each, including a kill against PSU York on October 7^th. She had three aces in the loss to Manor on 9/30.
 
Senior setter Holly Bidwell leads the team with four assists on the year, along with four aces and eleven digs. She had two assists in the loss to Manor on 9/30. She had two aces in the 9/28 loss to PSU Schuylkill.
 
The squad is headed by co-head coach Alahnna Balbach and interim head coach Danielle Powell.
 
About Lehigh Carbon CC
The Cougars (14-2, 7-2) come into the contest after knocking off Union College (NJ) by a 3-0 margin (25-11, 25-10, 25-11) this past Thursday night. Lehigh Carbon was never truly challenged, as the Cougars ran roughshod over the Owls. Their only losses this season have come in five sets to Del Tech back on September 7^th, and a four-set loss at Harrisburg Area CC last Saturday.
 
Lehigh Carbon has been impressive on offense this season, averaging 10.05 kills per set, third in all of Region XIX, and hitting a collective .348 on the year, which is first in all the region this year. The Cougars have 195 aces, averaging 3.55 per set, and average 10.31 assists per set, while putting up 19.96 digs per set, and averaging 1.19 blocks per set this year.
 
Two players are above 100 kills this season. Sophomore Kayla Nuss leads the team with 238 kills this year, a 4.33 kills per set clip, hitting a blistering .563 this year. Nuss is second in all Region XIX in kills, and her 4.33 kills per set average is tops in the region. Nuss has 27 aces, 152 digs, and 17 total blocks, all within the top three of the team this season. Nuss has 13 matches with double-digit kills and had a season-high 25 in the win at Northampton back on 9/21, putting up 25 on .488 hitting in the five-set win. She also set season-highs in digs (23) and solo blocks (4) in the win. She set her season-best with five total blocks against Lackawanna on 9/28. She had a season-best six aces in the five-set win against Montgomery County, then matched that on October 2^nd against Manor. She had 22 kills, 22 digs, an ace, and five total blocks in the five-set win against Lackawanna on 9/28.
 
 Sophomore Alicia Hunsicker is second on the team with 152 kills this year, averaging 2.76 kills per set. Hunsicker is hitting .286 this season and has ten aces on serve. Hunsicker is second on the squad with 122 digs this year, third on the team. Hunsicker has six matches with double-digit kills, with a season-high of 22 coming in the five-set win against Montco on 9/21. Hunsicker had an excellent day, following that performance with 15 kills in five sets against Northampton, finishing the day with 37 kills on a combined .333 hitting percentage. Hunsicker also had 48 combined digs, her season-high of 27 coming against Northampton, and a season-best six aces coming against Montco. She had 18 kills on .302 hitting, with an ace and eleven digs in the win against Lackawanna earlier this season.
 
Sophomore Amy Andreoli is third on the team with 54 kills, hitting .315 this season. She has six aces this year, along with 19 digs and eleven total blocks. Andreoli has twice gone for her season-high in kills, ironically in the only two losses for the Cougars, putting up eight kills against Delaware Tech CC on 9/7 and Harrisburg Area on 10/5. She had double-digit digs (12) in the loss to Del Tech. She had four kills, two assists, a dig, and two total blocks in the win over Lackawanna on 9/28.
 
First-year setter Alice Frank is fourth on the team with 50 kills this season, but her real contributions come in the way of assists (520) and service aces (59), where she leads the team in both categories. Frank also has 113 digs this season. She achieved a season-best six kills twice this season, coming in back-to-back matches against Northampton and Harrisburg Area CC. She set a blistering pace to start the season, with three straight matches of 40+ assists. She had back-to-back matches with 44 assists in wins against Bergen and Harcum, then put up 61 assists in a five-set loss to Del Tech. Her season-best in assists came against Lackawanna, putting up 62 assists and four kills in the win against Lackawanna. Frank had a kill and 30 assists in the win over CC of Philadelphia on 9/25, where she put up a season-high 12 aces on serve. She has twice had double-digit aces in a match, putting down ten aces in a win against RCSJ Gloucester back on 9/11.
 
The head coach for the Cougars is Dalin Long.
 
The Match-Up
Saturday's first match will pit Lackawanna and PSU Scranton against each other, with the first serve at 10:00am ET inside the Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium. The second match of the day will have the Nittany Lions square off with the Cougars from Lehigh Carbon CC, starting at approximately 12:00pm ET. Then, the final match of the day will be the EPAC tussle between Lackawanna and LCCC, starting at approximately 2:00pm ET.
 
Admission is free and open to the public throughout the morning and afternoon sessions on Saturday. There will be a pay-per-view video livestream available via the Lackawanna College Athletics Network at lackawannafalcons.com/LIVE.
 
Lackawanna's next contest will be on Wednesday, October 16^th, at 5:00pm ET against Northampton CC inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium. It will be the Dig Pink game, where Lackawanna women's volleyball will be raising money to donate towards Michele's Ladies In Pink, a local breast cancer charity that works to help women and their families in northeast PA.