10/23/26

SCRANTON, Pa.-- Lackawanna College women's volleyball gets back to work against PSAC opponents this weekend with a pair of matches, starting with a Friday, October 23^rd clash at Shippensburg University at 6:00pm ET inside Heiges Field House on Shippensburg's campus. Then, on Saturday, October 24^th, the Falcons will head further south into the Mountain State to take on Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV. The match is set for a 1:00pm ET start inside the Butcher Athletic Center
 
Game Details:  
Who: Lackawanna College Falcons (0-15) at Shippensburg University Raiders (14-8) 
When: Friday, October 23^rd, 6:00pm ET 
Where: Heiges Field House, Shippensburg University; Shippensburg, PA
 
Who: Lackawanna College Falcons (0-15) at Shepherd University Rams (17-3)
When: Saturday, October 24^th, 1:00pm ET
Where: Butcher Athletic Center, Shepherd University; Shepherdstown, WV
 
Shippensburg Links
Video: https://psacsportsdigitalnetwork.com/shipraiders/?B=4224538
Live Stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=689385
 
Shepherd Links
Video: https://psacsportsdigitalnetwork.com/shepherdrams/
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/shepherd/wvball/
 
This will be the second time for the Falcons against both Shippensburg and Shepherd. Lackawanna fell to Shippensburg on October 2^nd in straight-sets at home by scores of 25-17, 25-12, and 25-17. The next day, Lackawanna lost to Shepherd in straight-sets by scores of 25-19, 25-13, and 25-9. You can read the Shippensburg recap HERE, and the Shepherd match recap HERE. 
 
The Falcons:  
Lackawanna College (0-15) very nearly got its first win of the season on Wednesday night in its last contest, ultimately falling in five sets to Division III Wilkes University (23-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-16, 15-12) inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union. The Falcons blew a 2-1 set lead and then wasted a 5-1 lead to start the final set, as the Lady Colonels rallied for the win. You can read the full recap HERE.
 
This season the Falcons are struggling to get the offense going, hitting at only .019, with 345 kills and 316 errors. Opponents are hitting .230 against the Falcons, and the opposition has 143 aces this year, a 2.9 aces per set average. The Falcons average just over an ace per set this year. Lackawanna is just below one block per set for the year, while the opposition averages 1.4 blocks per set. Their opponents have 15.5 digs per set, while the Falcons average 12.1 per set. 
  
Junior outside hitter Jana Hofmann (Colorado Springs, CO) leads the Falcons with 111 kills, 2.22 per set, on .105 hitting this year. Hofmann's 17 aces are first on the team this season, and she's up to 121 digs, averaging 2.4 per set, which is second on the team for the year. Jana has been playing some of her best volleyball as of late, setting a season-high with 22 kills on .219 hitting on Wednesday night in five sets against Wilkes, while also posting her season-best 20 digs, and snagging a pair of aces. Hofmann has posted 50 kills in her last four matches, hitting at .217 and averaging 3.33 kills per set. Jana had five kills against Shippensburg (10/2), and she posted seven kills and had six digs against Shepherd (10/3). She is a former NJCAA All-American, selected as a first-year player with the Falcons, and was a two-time Region XIX DII Player of the Year.
 
Third-year outside hitter/middle blocker Nadia Toth (Dalton, PA) is second on the team with 47 kills, averaging a kill per set and hitting at .050. Nadia has a pair of aces on the year, and she's second in total blocks (12.0), posting eight solo blocks for the Falcons. Nadia also has 26 digs this season. Toth set season-highs in kills (8) and digs (11) against Wilkes on Wednesday night, hitting at .147 for the match against the Colonels. Toth had five kills on .286 hitting against Shippensburg (10/2), and followed that with just two kills on -.100 hitting vs. Shepherd (10/3).
 
First-year outside hitter Sophia Bedics (Bethlehem, PA) is third on the team with 44 kills in seven matches, a 1.91 per set average, while hitting .154, best on the team. Bedics has 29 digs this season and four total blocks. She had 12 kills, a season-best, on .256 hitting, and posted five digs in the loss to Kutztown (9/22). Bedics has six or more kills in four matches this season. She had three kills on negative hitting against West Chester on September 26^th. Sophia has not played since that match because of injury, and missed the two matches against Shippensburg and Shepherd.
 
Second-year middle hitter Ciona Braziel (Fort Worth, TX) is fourth on the team with 41 kills this season, averaging just over a kill per set this season and hitting a -.012 on the year. Braziel leads the Falcons with 16 total blocks, including ten solo stops. She posted a season-best eight kills on .313 hitting in a loss to West Chester at home on September 26^th. Braziel had six kills against Lock Haven last Friday. She had two kills on -.200 hitting and posted two solo blocks in two sets of action against Wilkes on Wednesday. Ciona had three kills against Shippensburg on October 2^nd, then posted three kills in the loss to Shepherd on October 3^rd. Braziel has recorded at least a solo block in four of her last five matches.
 
Two second-year setters are tied for the team-high in assists, as both Syriana Smith (Houston, TX) and Kaitlyn Reed (Aurora, CO) have recorded 83 assists, each, this season. Smith averages just under three assists per set and has three aces. She also has 30 digs on the year. Smith has gone for ten-or-more assists in three matches, setting a season-best with 21 helpers in the loss to Wilkes on Wednesday, while also setting a season-best with nine digs. She had 14 assists in the loss to Kutztown (9/22). Syriana had nine assists in three sets against Shippensburg (10/2), and posted five assists in two sets against Shepherd. Reed averages 2.31 assists per set, posting six kills and nine aces on the year. Reed also has 33 digs this season. She also set a season-high in assists (18) and another in aces (4) in the loss to Wilkes on Wednesday. Reed had a season-best four kills in the loss to Lock haven (10/16). Against Shippensburg on October 2^nd, she had six assists in three sets. Against Shepherd on October 3^rd, she posted three assists.
 
First-year setter Kady Schreiner (Mountaintop, PA) is third on the Falcons with 68 assists in her seven appearances, starting in three matches. She averages just over three assists per set. She also has three aces on the year, and she has 15 digs. Schreiner had had four assist sin three sets and one kill against Lock Haven back on September 19^th. She had eleven assists and five digs against Millersville (10/9), but left the game with injury and has missed the last four matches. She did not play against Shippensburg, and had two assists in two sets against Shepherd (10/3).
 
Third-year libero Adalee Rosado Rivera (Guyama, Puerto Rico) leads the team with 131 digs, a 2.79 digs per set clip, and she is second on the Falcons with 12 aces. Rosado Rivera has posted ten or more digs this season in six matches. She has amassed 52 assists on the season, just over one assist per set, and she has five kills this year. Rosado Rivera set her season-high with 23 digs against Wilkes on Wednesday, posting six assists and one kill, as well. In her last five matches, Rosado Rivera has 73 digs, just over four per set.
 
Coach Shelby Reese is in her fifth season in charge of the program, and she's hoping to establish the baseline and foundation for her program as the transition to the NCAA and Division II really begins to take shape for the Falcons. Reese has won 45 matches in her four years with the Falcons, including 17 in 2024, and 14 matches and a Region XIX championship in 2023. Before her time at Lackawanna, Reese was the head coach at NCAA Division III Cedar Crest in Allentown, winning 86 matches and getting the Falcons to their first-ever NCAA tournament in 2021. Last year's Lackawanna squad began peaking at the right time, winning a flurry of matches in the final week of the season to enter the playoffs with some momentum and make the Region XIX championship game for the third year in a row, before falling to Monroe in straight sets.
 
Reese has won 45 matches in her four years with the Falcons, including 17 in 2024, and 14 matches and a Region XIX championship in 2023. Before her time at Lackawanna, Reese was the head coach at NCAA Division III Cedar Crest in Allentown, winning 86 matches and getting the Falcons to their first-ever NCAA tournament in 2021.
   
The Raiders
The Raiders (14-8) are 4-2 in the month of October so far, and will be on the road at Kutztown on Saturday. Shippensburg is currently 5-4 in conference play, sitting in fifth place by itself. The Raiders are a full two games behind both Shepherd (7-2) and Kutztown (7-2), with both those sides having won the first match-up with Shippensburg earlier this year. East Stroudsburg (8-2), a team the Raiders defeated back on October 3^rd, is in first place.
 
In their last game, the Raiders overcame a sloppy second set to beat Millersville in four (25-22, 24-26, 25-15, 25-19) last Friday night. The Raiders hit .224 for the match, but had 13 attack errors during the second set. Millersville out-blocked the Raiders, 9-3, but Shippensburg managed to hit efficiently enough to hold off the Marauders.
  
This season Shippensburg is hitting .175, posting 958 kills, while their opponents are at .144 and 914 kills. Shippensburg averages 12.1 kills per set, while the opposition is at 11.6 kills per set. Shippensburg averages two aces per set this season on serve, with 155 aces, while their opponents are at 1.6 aces per set with 126 aces. The Raiders are strong at the net, posting 2.1 blocks per set this season, while the opposition averages 1.8 blocks per set. Shippensburg is at 17 digs per set, and their opponents average 17.6 digs per set.
 
Senior middle hitter Hailey Cappleman leads the Raiders with 162 kills in 19 matches this season, averaging 2.38 kills per set and hitting at .268. Cappleman also leads the Raiders in aces with 28 this season, and she's the top performer at the net for the Raiders, posting 70 total blocks, including ten solo stops, this season. She has nine matches with double-digit kills, posting a season-high 13 kills against Wheeling (9/11) on .313 hitting in a four-set loss. Cappleman had 12 kills on .478 hitting in a sweep against West Virginia State (9/11), and posted a season-best .529 hitting and nine kills in a sweep against West Liberty (9/12). Cappelman did not play against Lackawanna College in the first match-up on October 2^nd. She has topped ten-or-more kills in her last three matches, and had 12 kills on .267 hitting in her last appearance against Bloomsburg on October 10^th. She has missed the last two matches.
 
Junior outside/right-side hitter Clara Wildermuth is second on the team with 158 kills this year in 21 matches, 2.23 per set and hitting at .178 this season. She is fourth on the team with 40.0 blocks, including 32 block assists, and she has 39 digs this year. Wildermuth has five matches with ten or more kills, posting a season-high 17 kills on .192 hitting in the win against Bloomsburg on October 10^th. She did not appear against Lackawanna College on October 2^nd. She had nine kills on .152 hitting in the win against Millersville last Friday.
  
Senior middle blocker Natalya Montague is third on the team with 153 kills, 2.01 per set, and she's hitting .224 this season. Montague is second to Cappleman in total blocks, posting 66.0, including a team-high 14 solo blocks. She has five matches with ten or more kills, including a season-best 13 kills against Bloomsburg on October 10^th. She has hit a season-high seven total blocks in two matches this season, posting seven blocks against West Chester (9/18) and against Bloomsburg (10/10). She also did not appear against Lackawanna College on October 2^nd. Montague had seven kills and a pair of block assists against Millersville last weekend. 
 
Sophomore outside hitter Elise Bragg has 147 kills this season in 20 matches, averaging 2.13 kills per set and hitting at .130 for the year. Bragg has ten aces this year on serve, and she has 147 digs this year, fourth on the squad. Bragg has posted 16 total blocks this year. She has five matches with ten-or-more kills this season, including a season-best 14 kills in a five-set win against Walsh on September 4^th. Twice this season, she has posted a season-high 14 digs, happening against Wheeling (9/11) and West Chester (9/18). Bragg had three kills in two sets, hitting at .429 against Lackawanna (10/2). She had five kills in her last match against Bloomsburg on October 10^th. She hasn't played the last two matches for Shippensburg.
 
Junior setter Jaiden Anderson leads the Raiders in assists, posting 503 assists through her 22 matches. Anderson averages 6.37 assists per set, and she has 19 service aces this season, fourth on the team. She also has 24 kills and is second on the team with 208 digs, a 2.63 digs per set average. She has 12 matches with 20-or-more assists, posting a season-high 45 assists twice against Bloomsburg (10/10) and Millersville (10/16). She has eleven double-doubles this year, posting a season-high 19 digs along with 14 assists in a four-set loss to Fairmont State (9/12). Against Lackawanna, she had nine assists and two kills in the win on October 2^nd. She posted 45 assists and 18 digs, along with a pair of kills, against Millersville last weekend.
 
The head coach for the Raiders is Leanne Piscotty, now in her 22^nd season as the head coach at Shippensburg. Piscotty is the winningest coach in Shippensburg's women's volleyball history, posting 477 wins in her 22+ seasons in charge. She's a five-time PSAC East Coach of the Year, as well as a 2015 AVCA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year. She has 17 winning seasons, eight NCAA tournament berths, and a 2015 PSAC championship to her credit. 2015 was her best season, when the Raiders won 30 matches and won the PSAC championship. Piscotty has coached 54 All-PSAC players, including five PSAC Freshman of the Year candidates and a PSAC Player of the Year in 2013. Piscotty, a Shippensburg native, was an outstanding multi-sport athlete at the Shippensburg Area, before graduating and moving on to Penn State, where she played women's volleyball under legendary coach Russ Rose. While there, she was a two-time first-team All-American selection by the AVCA and won the Big Ten Player of the Year in 1992. She moved on to coaching under Rose for two seasons after finishing her playing career, and then coached later in the 1990s at Bradley University for two seasons, prior to eventually coming to Shippensburg.
 
The Rams
Shepherd (17-3) enters the weekend with a Friday match at home against Millersville before facing the Falcons on Saturday. The Rams are 7-2 in PSAC East play, tied in record with Kutztown but ahead of the Golden Bears because of a head-to-head win on October 9^th. The Rams are a half-game behind Lock Haven, which avenged a loss to Shepherd in September with a win at home on October 17^th, beating the Rams in four sets. East Stroudsburg is first in the East at 8-2.
 
The Lock Haven loss happened last Saturday, and Shepherd lost despite having a better attack percentage (.218 to .199) and out-blocking the Bald Eagles (9-4). Shepherd gave away 12 aces to LHU, and suffered through a 13-1 drought in the fourth set to LHU that pretty much sealed the Rams' fate on the road.
 
The Rams are hitting .271 for the season this year, posting 842 kills and 259 errors, while holding their opponents to .124 hitting on 685 kills and 398 errors. Shepherd averages 2.3 aces per set, posting 151 aces, while giving up 2.2 aces per set this season. The Rams average just under two blocks per set this year, while their opponents are at 1.5 blocks per set. The Rams have 15.8 digs per set this season, while their opponents average 13.2 digs per set this year.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Ada McCoy leads the team with 210 kills, 3.56 per set, in 19 matches this season. McCoy hits at .272 and is first on the team with 29 aces on the year. She has 66 digs on the season and has posted 23.0 total blocks, fourth on the team. McCoy has 14 matches with double-digit kills, posting her season-best 24 kills on .442 hitting in a four-set win against Concord on September 4^th. She had 21 kills in a four-set win against Millersville on September 18^th, the first of nine-straight matches with ten-or-more kills entering the weekend. McCoy did not play against Lackawanna College on October 3^rd. She had 14 kills against Lock Haven last weekend, hitting .238 in the four-set loss.
 
Senior outside hitter Amya Davis is second on the team with 170 kills this year, 2.83 kills per set, in her 19 matches on the year. She is hitting at .267 and has 18 aces, fifth on the team. Davis has 74 digs and 16.0 total blocks for the year. Davis has ten matches with ten-or-more kills this season, with her season-best 16 kills coming against Concord on September 4^th in the four-set win, hitting .261 and putting up nine digs. Davis did not play against Lackawanna College on October 3^rd, and she had six kills and four digs in the loss to Lock Haven last week.
 
Senior middle hitter Sophia Ryan is third on the team with 136 kills, 2.06 per set, and she is hitting .330 hitting this season in 20 matches. Ryan is the top blocker on the team, posting 59.0 total blocks, including 16 solo stops, and she has 11 digs this year. She has seven matches with double-digit kills, posting a season-high eleven kills four times, including most recently against Lock Haven last weekend. She had a season-high seven total blocks against Pitt-Johnstown back on September 11^th in a three-set sweep. Ryan had five kills in three sets against Lackawanna College on October 3^rd, and she posted eleven kills and five blocks against Lock Haven last weekend.
 
Junior setter Maggie Smith leads the offense with 617 assists on the year, averaging just under ten helpers per set this year. Smith also has 23 kills and 21 aces for the year, third on the team in aces. She's third on the team with 123 digs, and has 20.0 total blocks on the year. She has 16 matches with 20 or more assists this season. Smith had 54 assists, a season-best, along with a kill and eight digs in the win against Concord on September 4^th. She posted 48 assists and a season-best 15 digs in the win against Millersville on September 18^th. Smith did not appear against Lackawanna College on October 3^rd, and she had 38 assists and nine digs in the loss to Lock Haven last weekend. 
 
The head coach for Shepherd is Alex Hoekstra, now in his 12^th season in charge of the Rams. Hoekstra is a two-time PSAC East Coach of the Year recipient, and he has steadily built the Rams into a perennial contender in the PSAC. His 2024 team won 24 matches, finished 14-0 in the PSAC East, and made the NCAA tournament. In 2022, the Rams were PSAC East Champs and won 21 matches. The 2019 squad was 29-7 and made it to the PSAC tournament finals, qualifying for the NCAA tournament. Hoekstra led the Rams to their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2018, when they were still an MEC member. Hoekstra was an assistant for a season before taking over in 2015, and, before that, spent three years as an assistant coach at Western New Mexico, helping the Mustangs to an NCAA tournament berth in 2013. Hoekstra was an outstanding volleyball player in his time at Mount Olive, where he was third in the country in assists at the Division I level. Hoekstra has won 222 matches in his time in charge at Shepherd.
  
Next 
Lackawanna College remains on the road for its next stretch, as the Falcons continue their road journey with away matches at Bloomsburg on Friday, October 30^th, and a Halloween clash at East Stroudsburg next weekend. The Bloomsburg match is at 6:00pm ET kick inside the Nelson Field House on Bloomsburg's campus, and the ESU match is a 4:00pm ET start inside the Koehler Fieldhouse in East Stroudsburg.