Box Score 9/13/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The final score will say one thing but make no mistake about it: Lackawanna College women's volleyball escaped by a razor thin margin, as the Falcons swept past Delaware Tech in a tense 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-22) victory on Friday evening inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.
 
The Falcons (7-1) nearly blew two separate multi-score leads in the first and second sets, then had to come from behind to win the third set to knock off the visiting Delaware Tech CC squad (4-1) in a match that served as both an Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Conference and Region XIX Division II contest.
 
In the first set, Lackawanna broke open a tight, 8-7 game into a 17-8 lead, thanks in part to a strong serve from Maddilyn Durfee (Buffalo, NY) and good play at the net from the Falcons. Delaware Tech wouldn't go away, however, as the visitors steadily worked their way back into the set. After a run of three kills from Elizabeth Bauman got Del Tech within 19-12, she stepped up to serve, and the visitors closed the gap down to 19-17, thanks to a pair of kills, an ace, and two violations against the Falcons. Aryanna Girvan (Clarion, PA) broke serve with a backline kill, then Gabriela Gomez (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) had a block to extend the lead to four at 21-17. The Falcons got up by five at 23-18, but a serve error broke the Falcons' serve, then a bad overpass brought Del Tech within three. The visitors got it to a two-point deficit at 24-22, but a net violation on Del Tech gave the Falcons the win in the first set.
 
Set two saw the Falcons jump out to another lead, opening up a 10-4 advantage and forcing a timeout from Delaware Tech. Much like set one, Del Tech methodically closed the gap, showing tenacity to keep several long rallies going and hustling after every point. The visitors got it within one point at 12-11, but a Girvan kill put the Falcons back up two. The lead would yo-yo between one and two points over the next several points, with service errors hurting Delaware Tech. Lackawanna pushed the lead out to five at 19-14,  punctuated by Nadia Toth (Dalton, PA) slamming an overpass down for a kill, but the visitors once again squeezed the margin, getting to within a point at 20-19, but back-to-back service errors gave Lackawanna two points and a 22-20 advantage. Alasiah Carter (Coatesville, PA) earned a kill, then a solo block, to get the Falcons to set point, and a Girvan kill off the block won set two.
 
Delaware Tech pulled a reverse on Lackawanna, leading 9-4 early on in set three and forcing a Falcons timeout. Right out of the timeout, Lackawanna found its footing, taking advantage of some unforced errors from Del Tech, and a Gomez kill, to tie things up at 9-all. Lackawanna took its first lead at 12-11 after a deflected kill attempt went out of bounds, then opened up a two-point lead after a lengthy rally when Toth powered a shot through the block for a kill. Delaware Tech ran off four straight points to take a 15-13 lead, but Toth broke serve with another kill down the middle. Lackawanna eventually tied the set on a successful block at 16-16, then snagged the lead on a cross-court kill from Girvan. Another point made it 18-16 and forced a timeout, then a hitting error put Lackawanna up 19-16. Del Tech wouldn't go away, clawing back to a tie set at 19-19. The teams were still tied, sitting at 22-22, when Hofmann put a kill down on the left side to make it 23-22. Lackawanna subbed in Delaware native Mekenzie Dineen (Wilmington, DE) to serve, and Dineen delivered back-to-back aces to give Lackawanna the 25-22 set win and a 3-0 match victory.
 
Lackawanna College is back to action on Saturday, September 14^th, when the Falcons travel to Hazleton, PA for a tri-match at Penn State Hazleton with the Nittany Lions and the Penn State Mont Alto squad. Lackawanna faces Mont Alto first at 3:30pm ET, then the Hazleton squad at 5:30pm ET in the PSU Hazleton gymnasium.