9/27/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College women's volleyball, after a week away, is back to work this Saturday, September 28^th, as the Falcons travel to take on fellow Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Conference foe, Lehigh Carbon CC, in a single EPAC match-up.
 
The match is the first of two this season between the Falcons and the Cougars and will pit the two top EPAC teams against each other, as the Falcons are unbeaten, and Lehigh Carbon is 4-1 in conference play. First serve will be at 11:00am ET in the Lehigh Carbon CC gymnasium inside Berrier Hall on the campus in Schnecksville.
 
There will be a video livestream available via the Lehigh Carbon CC YouTube Channel, linked HERE.
 
About The Falcons
Lackawanna College (10-3) took a crucial tri-match pair of wins last weekend, taking down Harcum College in five sets before sweeping past Harrisburg Area CC. The Falcons trailed Harcum in the morning session, two sets to one, and looked sluggish, but woke up and dominated the fourth set, on their way to a 25-13 win to tie the match, then taking a 15-9 fifth set for the win. The Falcons rode that momentum into the afternoon session, dispatching the Hawks from Harrisburg Area CC with ease in straight sets. You can read the recap HERE.
 
So far in 2024, the Falcons are hitting at a collective .140 clip, averaging 10.3 kills per set this season. The Falcons have 140 aces in 13 contests, averaging three aces per set, and are up to 16.9 digs per set so far this year. Opponents are hitting .106 on the year and have 77 aces vs. 115 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 117 kills through 13 matches. Hofmann is also first on the team with 44 service aces and is second on the team with 149 digs. She's hitting at a .180 clip, second on the team among players with 200 or more attacks, and she's averaging 2.5 kills per set. Hofmann has double-digit kills in six matches this season, with a season-high 18 coming in the five-set win against Penn State Hazleton two weeks ago, 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 had a combined 21 kills and four aces in the victories over Harcum and HACC, putting up 12 kills to beat Harcum, and nine kills on .241 hitting against HACC last weekend. She has eight matches with double-digit kills, including six straight entering the weekend.  
 
First-year outside hitter Aryana Girvan (Clarion, PA) is second on the team with 101 kills this year, hitting .150 through 13 matches this year. That's third on the team among players with 200 or more attacks. Girvan has 19 service aces, third on the team, and 144 digs so far this season, also third on the squad. Girvan is averaging 2.2 kills per set, and has four matches with double-digit kills this season, all in the last four matches. Girvan put up a season-high 20 kills two weekends ago in the win against PSU Hazleton, on a season-high 59 attacks. She also had 22 digs. Girvan has five matches with double-digit digs, putting up a season-high 25 digs in the win against Harcum. Her best serving match came against Morris, where she posted five aces. Girvan had 24 combined hits, including a team-high 13 in the win against Harcum, and eleven on .476 hitting in the win against Harrisburg Area.  
 
Sophomore middle hitter Nadia Toth (Dalton, PA) is third on the team with 76 kills so far this season, hitting at .183, best on the team among players with 200 or more attacks. Toth has eleven service aces so far on the season, fifth on the squad. Toth had 35 aces last year. Her 23 total blocks so far this season are first on the team, and she has 32 digs on the 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 two weeks ago. She had a season-high five digs and three total blocks in the five-set win over PSU Hazleton two weeks ago. She had a season-best six total blocks, including four solo blocks, against Harrisburg Area CC. Toth had a combined eleven kills and seven digs in the two matches against Harcum and HACC.  
 
Sophomore outside hitter Alasiah Cater (Coatesville, PA) has double-digit kills on the year with 58 in 13 matches. Carter is hitting .043 on the season, and has ten total blocks this year, third on the team. She has 26 digs and eight block assists on the year. She hit her season-high nine kills against Harcum last weekend. She had a season-high six digs and four kills in the first win against PSU Hazleton earlier this season. Carter had three aces and five kills against Cairn on Thursday. She had a combined 13 kills and two digs in the wins against Harcum and HACC.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Angelique Fuentes (Miami, FL) has 42 kills through her first ten matches. She has 14 service aces, fourth on the team, nine digs, and seven 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 on 9/10. Fuentes had a combined eight kills and three aces in the wins against Harcum and HACC. 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 .224 clip this season with 43 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 two weeks ago, putting up a season-high five total blocks, including four block assists, in the win for the Falcons. She had eight kills in three sets against Harcum but left with an injury late in the third set. She did not play against HACC.  
 
Sophomore setter Maddilyn Durfee (Buffalo, NY) leads the team with 263 assists on the year, and has 20 service aces, second on the team. Durfee also has 79 digs on the year, fourth on the team. She has reached double-digit assists in 12 of 13 matches this year, with a season-and-career-best 39 coming in the five-set loss to Cairn on Thursday. 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 9/7. 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. 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 27-25 in her time at Lackawanna and won 86 matches in seven years at Cedar Crest.
 
About Lehigh Carbon CC
The Cougars (8-1) come into the contest on a six-match winning streak, unbeaten in Region XIX Division III play and 4-1 in EPAC play. Their last match was a runaway three-set win against CC of Philadelphia, winning by scores of 25-7, 25-8, and 25-3 against the overwhelmed Lions.
 
Lehigh Carbon has been impressive on offense through nine matches, averaging 9.9 kills per set and hitting a collective .251 on the year. The Cougars have 112 aces, averaging 3.29 per set, and average 10.4 assists per set, while putting up 20.5 digs per set, and averaging 1.09 blocks per set this year.
 
Two players are above 100 kills this season. Sophomore Kayla Nuss leads the team with 144 kills through nine matches, a 4.24 kills per set clip, hitting a blistering .409 this year. Her 144 kills are second in all of Region XIX, and her 4.24 kills per set average is tops in the region. Nuss has 16 aces, 95 digs, and ten total blocks, all within the top three of the team this season. Nuss has seven 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 had a season-best six aces in the five-set win against Montgomery County, also on 9/21. She had 16 kills and eight digs in the win against CC of Philadelphia.
 
 Sophomore Alicia Hunsicker is second on the team with 102 kills this year, averaging around three kills per set. Hunsicker is hitting .208 this season and has nine aces on serve. Hunsicker is second on the squad with 102 digs this year. Hunsicker has four 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 eight kills on ten attempts and no errors (.800 hitting) in the win against CC of Philadelphia.
 
First-year setter Alice Frank is third on the team with 31 kills this season, but her real contributions come in the way of assists (326) and service aces (41), where she leads the team in both categories. Frank also has 77 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 a season-high 61 assists in a five-set loss to Del Tech, the only setback for L-Tri-C this year. Frank had a kill and 30 assists in the win over CC of Philadelphia, 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.
 
First-year players Delaine Popa and Adriana Molinary are the main stoppers in the middle for LCCC this year, with Popa putting up 12 total blocks this season, and Molinary leading the squad with 13. Popa has ten kills through nine matches, while compiling 24 digs and 15 service aces, third on the team. Molinary has just four kills and two digs but leads the way with eleven block assists this year.
 
The head coach for the Cougars is Dalin Long.
 
The Match-Up
The single match is set for an 11:00am ET start inside the Lehigh Carbon CC gymnasium in Berrier Hall on campus in Schnecksville, PA. It will be the first of two matches this season between the Falcons and the Cougars and will pit the two top EPAC teams against each other. There will be a video livestream available via the Lehigh Carbon CC YouTube Channel, linked HERE.
 
Lackawanna returns to action on Wednesday, October 2^nd, when the Falcons travel to Blue Bell, PA for a single match against Montgomery County CC. First serve is set for 6:00pm ET inside the Montco gymnasium.