9/19/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College women's volleyball will test itself with a match against an NCAA Division III opponent on Thursday night, when the Falcons travel to take on the Cairn University women's volleyball squad.
 
The action starts Thursday, September 19^th, at 6:00pm ET inside the Mason Activity Center at Cairn University in Langhorne, PA. There is a video livestream available via Cairn Highlanders TV, which you can find HERE.
 
About The Falcons
Lackawanna College (8-2) went 3-1 last week, including taking a Friday night victory against Delaware Tech, followed by a tri-match split at PSU Hazleton. The Falcons defeated Del Tech 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-22) on Friday night in a hotly contested Region XIX DII match-up. The Falcons blew two separate leads in the first two sets but managed to recover in both sets for the win. In the third set, the Falcons fell behind, then rallied to surge forward for the win. You can read the recap HERE.
 
On Saturday, the Falcons fell to the two-time defending USCAA national champion PSU Mont Alto in the first match, 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-22), before taking down PSU Hazleton in the final match of the day, 3-2 (15-25, 25-18, 28-26, 15-25, 15-13) to earn the split. It was the second time in two weeks that the Falcons took PSU Hazleton to five sets and won. Read the recap HERE.
 
So far in 2024, the Falcons are hitting at a collective .152 clip, averaging 10.2 kills per set this season. The Falcons have 113 aces in ten contests, averaging 3.3 aces per set, and are up to 16.4 digs per set so far this year. Opponents are hitting .123 on the year and have 56 aces vs. 90 errors on serve so far this season. The Falcons are at one block per set, and their opponents are at 1.4 blocks per set.
 
First-year outside hitter Jana Hofmann (Colorado Springs, CO) leads the squad this season with 82 kills through ten matches. Hofmann is also first on the team with 38 service aces and 109 digs. She's hitting at a .188 clip, first on the team among players with 150 or more attacks. Hofmann has double-digit kills in four matches this season, with a season-high 18 coming in the five-set win against Penn State Hazleton this past weekend, 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. She had a combined 28 kills and 32 digs in the two matches this past weekend at PSU Hazleton.
 
First-year outside hitter Aryana Girvan (Clarion, PA) is second on the team with 66 kills this year, hitting .141 through ten matches this year. That's third on the team among players with 150 or more attacks. Girvan has 16 service aces, tied for second on the team, and 86 digs so far this season. Girvan put up a season-high 20 kills this past weekend in the win against PSU Hazleton, on a season-high 59 attacks. She also had 22 digs, setting another season-best. Girvan has seven matches with six or more kills on the year. Her best serving match came against Harford, where she had three aces. Girvan had a combined 26 kills and 31 digs in the two matches this weekend.
 
Sophomore middle hitter Nadia Toth (Dalton, PA) is third on the team with 56 kills so far this season, hitting at .181. Toth has eleven service aces so far on the season, tied for fourth on the squad. Toth had 35 aces last year. Her 12 total blocks so far this season are second on the team, and she has 23 digs on the year. Toth had a team-best 12 kills against PSU Hazleton two weeks ago, hitting .323 in the match. She has twice gone over double-digits for kills, putting up ten in the win against Delaware Tech last Friday. She had a season-high five digs and three total blocks in the five-set win over PSU Hazleton this past weekend. She combined for ten kills, four aces, and eight digs in the two matches against Mont Alto and Hazleton.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Alasiah Cater (Coatesville, PA) has double-digit kills on the year with 40 in ten matches. Carter has 20 digs and seven block assists on the year. She hit her season-high six kills twice this past week, the first time against Morris on Tuesday while hitting .308 in a Lackawanna win, then again on Saturday in the win against PSU Hazleton, putting up six kills in the five-set victory. She had a season-high six digs and four kills in the first win against PSU Hazleton two weeks ago. She was the fourth Falcon with 100 or more kills a year ago, and had three matches with double-digit kills last year, including a career-best 19 kills in a five-set thriller against Lehigh Carbon CC. She had a season-best seven service aces in a win against Delaware Tech last year, and she had nine or more matches with double-digit digs. Her season-best was 24 digs against Bergen CC.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Angelique Fuentes (Miami, FL) has 34 kills through her first eight matches. She has eleven service aces, seven digs, and six block assists on the year. Fuentes hit a season-high with nine kills in the win against Montco on 9/7, 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 last Tuesday. Fuentes is hitting at .129 on the season. 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 .258 clip this season with 30 kills. Osias is first on the team with 13 total blocks this year, including ten block assists. Neurdia had a combined 14 kills in two matches two weeks ago, including eight kills on .412 hitting against PSU Hazleton at home. She followed that up with six kills on .545 hitting in the sweep over Cecil College. She had two block assists in both matches. Osias had four kills, and two assists in the win against PSU Hazleton this past weekend. 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.
 
Sophomore setter Maddilyn Durfee (Buffalo, NY) leads the team with 184 assists on the year, and has 16 service aces, tied with Toth for second on the team. Durfee has 53 digs on the year, fifth on the team. She has reached double-digit assists in nine of ten matches this year, with a season-best 29 coming in the five-set win against PSU Hazleton this past weekend. Durfee had a season-best ten digs against PSU Hazleton the first time around, back on 8/31. She had a combined 50 assists in the tri-match sweep for the Falcons against Montco and Westchester on 9/7. Durfee had a combined 48 assists and three aces, to go with 15 digs in the two matches this weekend at PSU Hazleton. 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 for 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 25-24 in her time at Lackawanna and won 86 matches in seven years at Cedar Crest.
 
About Cairn University
The Highlanders (5-2) are out of the United East Conference in NCAA Division III. They had won their first four matches in a row to start the season, but have dropped two of their last three, including their most recent match, a five-set loss to Albright College at home on Tuesday. The match was tight (23-25, 25-21, 27-25, 14-25, 15-8) for the most part, but the visitors from Albright put up 13 aces, had eight blocks, and managed to hit just a little better (.182 to .158) to edge out the Highlanders.
 
On the season, Cairn is hitting at a .210 clip, while holding their opponents to .097 this year. The Highlanders average around 12.3 kills per set, and average 2.7 aces per set this year, putting up 65 aces to 52 errors. Cairn averages over 19 digs per set, along with 1.5 blocks per set this season. Their opponents have 42 aces to 46 errors, averaging 1.8 aces per set. Their opponents average one block per set this year.
 
Senior outside hitter Caroline Conrad leads the team with 82 kills through seven matches, averaging 3.4 per set on .259 hitting. Conrad also leads the team in aces (19) and is third in digs (93). Conrad has five matches with double-digit kills on the season, with her season-high 16 kills coming against Albright on Tuesday. Conrad hit .189 and had 21 digs, as well as two aces, in the five-set loss. Conrad had 17 kills on .310 hitting in a win against PSU Abington to open the season back on 8/30. Her season-high five aces came in a win against Centenary this past weekend, where she also had ten kills and 20 digs.
 
Senior opposite Hendryl Peabody is second on the squad with 65 kills through her first seven matches, averaging 2.7 kills per set and hitting .221. Peabody has ten digs and is second on the team with 15 total blocks this year, including a team-best 14 block assists. Peabody has three matches with double-digit kills, twice hitting her season-high of 14 kills. The first instance came in the opener against PSU Abington, where she had 14 kills and seven block assists in the win against the Nittany Lions. The second time happened against Albright on Tuesday, where she put up 14 kills on .192 hitting in the loss to the Lions. She has recorded block in five straight matches. Her best hitting match came against PSU Schuylkill, where she had seven kills on .385 hitting in a win.
 
Sophomore outside hitter and defensive specialist Bridget Dahn is third on the team with 57 kills through seven matches, averaging just under 2.4 kills per set and putting up five aces on the year. Dahn leads the team with 106 digs and has three total blocks this year. She has hit double-digits in kills twice this season, setting a season-high with 12 kills in the opener against PSU Abington. Against Albright, she had ten kills and a season-best 26 digs. She has hit double-digits in digs in five of her seven matches this season.
 
Sophomore middle blocker Georgianna Thorpe has 43 kills this season, a nearly 1.8 kills per set average, and leads the team with 18 total blocks, including eight solo blocks this year. Thorpe is hitting .314 on the year, tops on the team for attackers with more than 100 attempts. She had a season-high eleven kills on .500 hitting in the win against PSU Abington to open the year. She's recorded three solo blocks twice this season, and had three block assists twice this year, as well. Against Albright, she had four kills, three solo blocks, four total blocks, and a dig in the loss.
 
Graduate student Olivia Zepp is the main setter for the Highlanders, putting up 229 assists on the year through seven matches, averaging 9.54 assists per set. She also has nine kills and 79 digs, fourth on the team this year. Zepp has hit double-digits in assists in every match this season, with a season-high 48 coming in the four-set win against PSU Abington to open the year. She has had 30+ assists in four matches this year and had 40 and a season-high 22 digs in the loss to Albright, while also putting up her season-high of three kills.
 
Whitney Seidel ('17) is in her eighth season at the helm for the Highlanders, turning Cairn into a perennial playoff contender at the turn of the decade. Seidel won just 19 matches through her first three seasons, then won 45 through her last three entering this year, with three conference semi-final appearances to go on her resume. With Seidel at the helm, Cairn transformed from league cannon fodder into league championship challenger, coaching five players to All-Conference First Team status and a conference player of the year in 2022. That season, the Highlanders won 18 matches, starting the season with seven straight wins, and made the CSAC semi-finals. The Highlanders were nationally ranked in defense, finishing 15^th in the country in digs per set, and fourth in opponents' hitting percentage. Seidel got six players on the All-Conference squad and earned CSAC Coach of the Year. Seidel played at Cairn and graduated in 2017. She pursued a career for one season overseas at the University of Oxford, then returned to coach her alma mater. She has a bachelor's degree from Cairn in English, and master's degree in Education. Seidel is 69-77 in her career at Cairn.
 
The Match-Ups
The Falcons and Highlanders get started at 6:00pm ET on Thursday, September 19^th, inside the Mason Activity Center on Cairn's campus in Langhorne, PA. There is a video livestream available via Cairn Highlanders TV, which you can find HERE.
 
 
Lackawanna won't get much time to rest, as the Falcons return home for a crucial tri-match on Saturday, September 21^st inside the Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium. There, the Falcons will host Region XIX DII and EPAC rival Harcum College at 10:00am ET, then the Harrisburg Area CC Hawks at 2:00pm ET. Harrisburg and Harcum will play a match in between at 12:00pm ET. All three matches will be streamed live via the Lackawanna College Athletics Network at lackawannafalcons.com/LIVE.