9/19/24
 
LANGHORNE, Pa. – In a gutsy performance against a NCAA Division III opponent, Lackawanna College women's volleyball fell in five sets (25-19, 25-20, 20-25,  23-25, 15-9) to the Cairn University Highlanders on Thursday night inside the Mason Activity Center on campus at Cairn.
 
The Falcons (8-3) struggled to deal with the older and deeper Highlanders (6-2) through the first two sets, but they made the hosts work for everything. In the first set, Cairn jumped out to a 6-3 advantage, but Lackawanna closed the gap, getting back-to-back kills from Aryana Girvan (Clarion, PA) to knot the first set at 9-9. Girvan answered a Cairn point with another kill at 10-10, then the Falcons took the lead at 11-10 thanks to an ace from Maddilyn Durfee (Buffalo, NY). Cairn took advantage of a kill and back-to-back hitting errors to take a 13-11 lead, then expanded that lead out to as much as five. The Falcons kept battling, getting it as close as 20-18, but a successful block, followed by a hitting error, gave the Highlanders a crucial four-point cushion. Those were the first two points of a 5-1 run for Cairn to close out set one.
 
Lackawanna held an early 7-5 lead in set two, but the hosts hit an 8-2 run to turn things around and take a four-point lead at 13-9. The Falcons got as close as 15-14, and later closed a six-point deficit to 21-19, but a rotation error broke the Lackawanna serve, and then an ace put Cairn back up by four. Eventually, the Highlanders took set two when a Lackawanna kill attempt deflected back off a block, and the Falcons couldn't control the rebound, falling 25-20.
 
The third set was much more the Falcons' speed, as Lackawanna came out firing from the start. A combo block from Nadia Toth (Dalton, PA) and Jana Hofmann (Colorado Springs, CO) got the Falcons on the board first, and a Toth kill down the middle doubled the lead at 2-0. Another Toth block, followed by a Hofmann ace, made it 4-1 Falcons. Later, the Falcons took a 7-3 lead when an excellent dig from Alasiah Carter (Coatesville, PA) led to a back-row attempt from Girvan, who slammed the ball down the middle for the kill. A Carter kill, followed by an ace, gave Lackawanna its biggest lead of the match at 9-3, and forced a Cairn timeout. The Highlanders closed the margin to a three-point set at 13-10, but Lackawanna scored the next five points to force another timeout and take an 18-10 lead. Lackawanna would expand the lead even further, getting to set point at 24-12, but a furious rally from the home team made Lackawanna sweat. A wicked serve kept the Falcons on their toes, and Cairn scored eight straight points to force a timeout at 24-20. Lackawanna won when the Highlanders made an error on the serve.
 
Set four was hotly contested, with Cairn eventually pulling ahead at 10-6. The set sat at 11-9 for nearly 12 minutes, as a delay at the scores table forced both teams to take an extended break. A moment of levity happened when both teams ran to the net to play a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, but the officials sent both teams back to their respective sides quickly as they figured out the scores table issues. Back underway, Cairn led 15-13, but had its serve broken on a bad overpass. An ace from Mekenzie Dineen (Wilmington, DE) tied the set, and Lackawanna took the lead on a Hofmann kill on the left side at 16-15. The margin swung back-and-forth from a tie to a one-point Lackawanna lead, until Hofmann whipped a kill off a block and out of bounds to give the Falcons a 20-18 lead, forcing a timeout from Cairn. Lackawanna led by as much as three at 23-20, but the Highlanders got a kill to make it a two-point set, then got within one after a block at the net at 23-22. A service error put the Falcons on the brink of the set point, but Lackawanna gave it right back on an error, allowing Cairn a chance to extend the game, down 24-23. The Falcons didn't allow that to happen, winning the set on a kill from Delaney Petri (Delevan, NY) to force a fifth and decisive set.
 
Both teams traded points early, but Cairn took a two-point lead when the Falcons committed a service error at 4-2. An ace from the Highlanders made it 5-2, but a Hofmann kill down the right-side broke serve. The Highlanders got serve back on an error from the Falcons, then got another ace to make it 7-3. The sides switched with Cairn up 8-4, and the Highlanders scored two straight points to force a timeout at 10-4. Lackawanna had one more mini-run, breaking serve with a Carter kill on the left, then being gifted a point when Cairn committed a hitting error. However, a Durfee serve hit the net, then back-to-back errors, followed by an ace, made it 14-6, Highlanders. With the match on the line, Lackawanna got a block to break serve, then a hitting error from Cairn, followed by an ace, which eventually made it 14-10. Cairn would finally put Lackawanna away on a kill set up down the middle to come away with the set and match win.
 
Two players had double-digit kills for Lackawanna, as Hofmann finished with 14 on .211 hitting, while Girvan had eleven kills. Toth added nine kills. Durfee had 39 assists, and the Falcons had 13 aces.
 
Lackawanna College will get back to NJCAA Region XIX action on Saturday, September 21^st, when the Falcons will host a tri-match with Harcum College and Harrisburg Area CC inside the Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium. Lackawanna will take on Harcum in a Region XIX DII and EPAC contest at 10:00am ET, then Harcum and Harrisburg Area will play at noon, before the Falcons and the Hawks from Harrisburg meet at 2:00pm ET in an EPAC match-up.