Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 8/31/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna women's volleyball dug deep for a five-set thriller in the morning, then took a three-set sweep late in the afternoon to go 2-0 on Saturday in tri-match action against PSU Hazleton and Cecil College at the Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium. Lackawanna beat PSU Hazleton in the first match, 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 15-12), then took down Cecil College in the finale, 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-17). The Nittany Lions beat the Eagles in the middle match, 3-2 (17-25, 25-11, 25-21, 16-25, 15-13).
 
The Falcons (3-0) ran off the first four points to start the match with PSU Hazleton (1-1) and led by as much as 11-5 early in the set. Hazleton settled in after a timeout, and the Lions eventually battled back to even at 17-17. Lackawanna took the lead on an Angelique Fuentes (Miami, FL) kill from the left side, but Hazleton hit an 8-2 run to close out the first set.
 
Lackawanna took sets two and three, with set two seeing the Falcons never hold a lead larger than four, blow a late lead to get tied up at 23, then score the next two points to tie the match, winning set two on an emphatic kill at the net by Nadia Toth (Dalton, PA). The third set was close early, and Lackawanna clung to an 18-14 lead past the mid-point, but a crucial 6-0 run, helped by three straight hitting errors, back-to-back service aces from Deliani Del Bois (New Port Richey, FL), and a kill from Jana Hofmann (Colorado Springs, CO) put the Falcons on the brink. Hazleton broke a set point to gain the serve, but a Toth block at the net ended the set for Lackawanna.
 
After falling behind big early in the fourth, the Falcons tried to rally, but could not close the gap in time, sending the match to a fifth-and-final set. A back-and-forth set saw the Falcons take an 8-7 lead as the teams switched sides, and another Toth kill at the net gave Lackawanna a 9-7 cushion on the restart. A back row kill by Hofmann forced a timeout, and an ace after the break by Del Bois pushed the Lackawanna advantage to 11-7. A service ace from Zoe Ortueta (Miami, FL) made it 13-8, Lackawanna, then a Hofmann kill pushed it to match point at 14-9. Hazleton broke serve at 14-10, then won a long rally, followed by a kill down the middle, to close the gap at 14-12 and force a Lackawanna timeout. After the timeout, Toth won it with a kill that deflected off the block and down on the PSU side of the net, giving Lackawanna the victory.
 
The second match with Cecil (0-2) saw the Falcons get things started with a dominant first set, as Lackawanna built an eight-point cushion, then expanded that out to double-digits, cruising to a first set win. Set two saw Cecil take a 12-8 advantage, only to have the Falcons run off five straight points to reclaim the lead at 13-12. Things remained back-and-forth, as Lackawanna took a 21-18 lead on an error by the Eagles at the net. With Aryana Girvan (Clarion, PA) serving, the Falcons ran off the final four points, with a Hofmann cross-court kill ending the set.
 
In the third, Lackawanna broke open a 5-5 contest with nine straight points, and never really had the lead threatened again, winning the match on an Osias kill down the middle.
 
Lackawanna has won its first three contests of the season, and will now turn its attention to Harford CC, ranked #24 in the NJCAA Division II pre-season poll. The Falcons fell to the Fighting Owls in the 2023 Mid Atlantic District championship last season. The Owls and Falcons will clash on Wednesday, September 4^th, at 7:00pm ET inside the Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.