10/9/26

SCRANTON, Pa.-- Lackawanna College women's volleyball will get back on the road with a pair of road matches against two PSAC opponents. The Falcons are set to travel and face Millersville University on Friday, October 9^th, at 7:00pm at Pucillo Gymnasium. Then, on Saturday, October 10^th, at 1:00pm, the Falcons will be at West Chester University facing the Golden Rams at Hollinger Field House.
 
Game Details:  
Who: Lackawanna College (0-10) at Millersville University (4-12) 
When: Friday, October 9^th, 7:00pm ET 
Where: Pucillo Gymnasium, Millersville University; Millersville, PA
 
Who: Lackawanna College (0-10) at West Chester University (8-11) 
When: Saturday, October 10^th, 1:00pm ET 
Where: Hollinger Field House, West Chester University; West Chester, PA
 
Millersville Links
Video Coverage: PSAC Sports Digital Network 
Fans who cannot attend can follow the action via the PSAC Sports Digital Network and Millersville's livestream.
 
Live Stats: https://millersvilleathletics.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Live stats coverage is available and will be updated as the match goes on.
 
West Chester Links
Video Coverage: PSAC Sports Digital Network
Fans who cannot attend can follow the action via the PSAC Sports Digital Network and West Chester's livestream.
 
Live Stats: https://wcupagoldenrams.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Live stats coverage is available and will be updated as the match goes on.
 
The Falcons:  
Lackawanna College (0-10) has not been in action since last Saturday, hosting Shepherd University and falling 3-0 in straight sets to the Rams. The Rams posted six total blocks and hit .429 for the match, while the Falcons struggled with 24 hitting errors and six service errors. Lackawanna hit just -.113 for the day and were out blocked, 6-0 by the Rams. Jana Hofmann (Colorado Springs, CO) led the Falcons with seven kills, hitting .136 for the match, while posting six digs. Ciona Braziel (Fort Worth, TX) had three kills, while Nadia Toth (Dalton, PA) posted a pair of kills and two digs. You can read the full recap HERE.
 
On the year, Lackawanna has struggled to get its offense going, hitting at -.009, with 197 kills and 205 errors. Opponents are hitting .261 against the Falcons, and the opposition has 101 aces this year, a 3.2 aces per set average. Lackawanna averages just under a block per set on the year. Their opponents have 14.8 digs per set, while the Falcons average 10.6 per set.
  
Hofmann, a junior outside hitter, leads the Falcons with 52 kills, 1.63 per set, on .018 hitting this year. Hofmann's nine aces are first on the team this season, and her 57 digs are also first on the squad. Jana tied her season-high with seven kills against Kutztown (9/22), posting seven digs and a pair of block assists against the Bears. Hofmann has had seven kills in three separate matches this year. Her season-high in digs came against Messiah, where she posted 13, while also hitting a season-high four aces. Hofmann had four kills and nine digs in the loss to West Chester on September 26^th. 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. 
 
First-year outside hitter Sophia Bedics (Bethlehem, PA) is second 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 last weekend. Sophia missed last week's contests against Shippensburg and Shepherd.
 
Toth, a third-year outside hitter/middle blocker, is third on the team with 30 kills through her first ten matches, averaging 1.03 per set and hitting at .054. Nadia is in a three-way tie for the team-high in total blocks (7.0) and has nine digs this season. Toth set a season-high with seven kills on .263 hitting against Monroe earlier this season. She had five kills on a season-best .455 hitting against Kutztown on September 22^nd. Toth was held to just two kills against West Chester on 9/26, and she had a combined seven kills and four digs in the losses to Shippensburg and Shepherd last weekend.
 
First-year setter Kady Schreiner (Mountaintop, PA) had a breakout performance earlier in September in her first true action, dishing out 23 assists in the loss for the Falcons against Monroe. Schreiner had not previously appeared for Lackawanna. Schreiner has been in and out with injuries for the Falcons, but she leads the team with 57 assists in her six matches, averaging three helpers per set. She also has three aces on the year, and she has ten digs. Schreiner had 12 assists and a pair of digs against Kutztown in four sets on September 22^nd. She had eleven assists and a kill against West Chester (9/26) and played in two sets against Shepherd last Saturday. 
  
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. Last year's 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 Marauders:  
The Marauders (4-12) come into the weekend on a two-game slide and winless in PSAC play (0-6). Millersville dropped a five-set match to Bloomsburg last Saturday, then fell in four sets to Georgian Court on Monday this week in their last match-up. Georgian Court hit .161 for the match and had 12 service aces, while Millersville had zero aces and hit .122 for the match, compiling 25 attack errors and nine service errors. Georgian Court out blocked Millersville, 12-7, for the match.
 
Millersville is hitting .114 this season, while their opponents hit at .212. The Marauders have 546 kills and 329 errors in attack. Millersville has 95 aces this season, averaging about 1.6 per set, while their opponents are at 112, averaging closer to two aces per set this season. Millersville has 88 total blocks this season, a little over 1.5 per set, while their opponents have 97 blocks, averaging 1.7 blocks per set. The opposition has a 15.6 digs per set average, while the Marauders post 13 digs per set.
 
Senior Alex Nava leads the Marauders with 102 kills this season, averaging 2.32 kills per set and hitting at .093, first on the team amongst the main players. Nava recorded 21 kills and 22 digs against Jefferson for the Marauders last Thursday, while she also had 12 kills against Bloomsburg on October 3^rd. She had eleven kills and ten digs in the loss to Georgian Court on Monday.
 
First-year outside hitter Marissa Storti is second on the team with 96 kills this season, with 1.92 kills per set and hitting at .109. Storti has 18 service aces and is third on the team with 114 digs, and she has four matches with ten or more kills. Storti posted eleven kills in a four-set match against Caldwell University back on August 29^th, and then had 14 kills again in a loss against West Virginia State on August 29^th. Storti had 12 kills in a four-set loss to Shepherd on September 18^th, and she posted 13 kills and 25 digs in the win against Jefferson last Thursday. She has nine kills in each of her last two matches, posting nine kills and ten digs in the loss to Georgian Court on Monday.

Sophomore middle hitter Hailey Lazur is third on the team with 64 kills this season, with 1.33 kills per set and hitting at .204. Lazur posted eight kills in a 3-0 win against Felician University on September 21^st, while freshman Nadia Sawyer is fourth on the team with 62 kills this season, with 1.17 kills per set and hitting at .070. Sawyer recorded nine kills and two digs against Caldwell University back on August 29^th, and she had nine kills and three digs against Georgian Court earlier this week. 
 
Freshman setter Addison Reustle leads the Marauders in helpers, posting 248 assists through her 16 matches. Reustle averages 4.68 assists per game, and she has eight service aces this season, while also posting eleven kills. She's fifth on the team with 79 digs this year. She has five matches with 20-or-more assists, posting a season-high 32 in the loss to Bloomsburg last weekend. She had 29 assists and seven digs against Goldey-Beacom on August 27^th, and posted 26 assists in a five-set sweep against Jefferson last Thursday. 
 
The head coach for Millersville is Brian Smith, now in his 17th season as the program's head coach. Smith has coached 21 All-PSAC honorees since taking over in 2010, which includes 2019 PSAC Athlete of the Year Jayci Suseland and three-time honoree Brooklyn Smith, who was also named PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Year in 2013. Smith inherited a program that had missed the postseason for four consecutive seasons and had not posted an above-.500 record in a decade, but quickly turned around the Marauders' fortunes with a postseason appearance in 2012. Millersville held a 16-16 record and 11-11 conference mark in 2013, marking the program's first .500 league record since 2005. Smith's best year came in 2019, when Millersville made the PSAC quarterfinals and won a program-best 26 matches, earning an NCAA tournament bid and winning a tournament match with Shippensburg. Smith has 219 career wins at Millersville, tops in program history. He was an assistant for three seasons before taking over the program, and was a club volleyball coach and an assistant at Franklin & Marshall before that. Smith is a Millersville graduate and a former US Marine, where he played volleyball for the All-Marine Corps Team.
 
The Golden Rams:  
West Chester (8-11) swept the Falcons earlier this season in three sets on September 26^th. You can read the full recap from that match HERE.
 
West Chester doesn't have a Friday match this weekend, so Saturday's contest will be the first action for the Golden Rams since falling in a three-set sweep to Shepherd on Tuesday. WCU comes into the weekend on a three-game slide, dropping a five-setter at home against Lock Haven and back-to-back sweeps against Kutztown and Shepherd. Despite the sweep, the match with Shepherd was competitive, as WCU hit .275 for the match and pushed Shepherd in the second set, which ended 29-27. However, the visiting Rams hit .350 for the match, including a blistering .500 in set one, and out blocked the home Golden Rams for the match, 7-2. Shepherd had just eight attack errors on the night.
  
West Chester hits .212 this season, averaging 11.7 kills per set, while their opponents are hitting .164 on the year and averaging 10.0 kills a set. The Rams have 167 aces, averaging 2.3 per set, and their opponents have 113 aces this year, averaging 1.6 per set. WCU averages 1.7 blocks per set on the season and posts 12.7 digs per set. Their opponents average around the same, also posting 1.7 blocks per set and 12.5 digs per set this season.
 
Junior outside hitter Anna Richardson leads the team with 163 kills, a 2.40 kills per set average, on .182 hitting this season. She's fourth on the team with 21 service aces this year, and second on the squad with 152 digs. Richardson has nine games with double-digit kills and has posted her season-high 13 kills in four different matches. She had 13 kills and a season-best 16 digs against Shippensburg on 9/18, a four-set loss for the Rams. Against Monroe, she had eleven kills on .119 hitting and posted two aces and seven digs in the win. Richardson did not appear in the first match between Lackawanna and West Chester on September 26^th. She had seven kills and nine digs in the loss on Tuesday to Shepherd.
 
Sophomore right-side hitter Gwen Atkins, a transfer from Saint Francis, is second in the team with 158 kills, averaging 2.36 per set, and is hitting at .256 this season. Atkins also has 24 aces, second on the team, and she has 64 digs, third on the team in rejections. She has hit double-digits in kills in eight matches, including her last three, and she set her season-best against Elizabeth City State, going for 15 kills on .346 hitting in a 3-2 loss for the Rams. Atkins had one kill and five digs in three sets against Lackawanna on September 26^th. She had four kills and two digs in the loss to Shepherd on Tuesday. 
 
Senior outside hitter CeCe Isenberg is third on the team with 146 kills, a 2.56 kills per set average, on .308 hitting in her eleven matches. Isenberg has 29 digs and 24 blocks for the year. She has eight games with double-digit kills, posting a season-high 18 kills on .500 hitting in a 3-1 win for WCU against Chowan on 9/4. Isenberg had eight kills on .727 hitting in the win against Lackawanna (9/26), and she had nine kills on .333 hitting against Shepherd this past Tuesday.
 
Junior middle blocker Julie Kwitchoff is fourth on the team with 132 kills, a 1.94 kills per set average, on .219 hitting. Kwitchoff is dominant at the net, with 71 total blocks, including 26 solo stops. She has three games in double-digit kills, with a season-best 12 kills coming in a five-set loss to Belmont Abbey on 9/4. Kwitchoff had a season-best ten total blocks, two solos and eight assists, while posting eight kills against West Virginia State on 8/29. She had seven kills and six total blocks against Monroe on 9/22. Kwitchoff had seven kills on .778 hitting and seven total blocks in the win against Lackawanna two weeks ago, and she has had at least six kills in her last seven matches, posting nine kills on .667 hitting in the loss to Shepherd on Tuesday.
 
Junior setter Ada Koksal, a Goldey-Beacom transfer, leads the team in assists with 374 assists in eleven matches, averaging 8.13 assists per set. Koksal also has 17 kills, a .37 kills per set average, on .167 hitting, and she has 16 aces this year. Koksal has 60 digs and 14 total blocks. Koksal has eleven matches with 20 or more assists, posting a season-best 44 helpers in the five-set loss to Elizabeth City State on 9/9. Koksal had 26 assists and four digs in the match with Millersville on 9/19. Koksal had 34 assists and 7 digs in the recent match with Lock Haven on 10/2. She had 26 assists and five digs, along with two aces, against the Falcons on September 26^th, and had 24 assists and three aces in the loss to Kutztown last weekend. She did not appear against Shepherd.
 
The head coach for the Golden Rams is Kassie Bellaver, now in her 20^th year in charge at West Chester and her 26^th season overall in coaching women's volleyball on the collegiate level. Bellaver was hired to coach at West Chester in 2006, and she has had incredible success, posting just three losing seasons in her previous 19 years, along with 12 seasons at 20 or more wins. She's reached the PSAC playoffs 13 times, making the semi-final round in three of those years. She's also had her team make the NCAA tournament twice in her tenure, while coaching 45 All-PSAC selections and four All-Region honorees. Bellaver's best year in wins came in 2007, her second year, when the Rams won 28 matches. Her 2015 squad was 26-11 and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, and her 2017 squad went 24-9, made the PSAC semi-finals, and earned an at-large selection to the national tournament. She has 398 wins in her career at WCU, and she's now up to 445 wins in her 35-year career. Before coming to West Chester, Bellaver was the head coach at her alma mater, La Roche College in Pittsburgh, where she spent six seasons. Before coaching there, she was an outstanding player for the Red Hawks, earning team for MVP in 1998. She took over as head coach just one year after her graduation. 
  
Next 
Next up, the Falcons will finally be back at home on Friday, October 16^th, facing Lock Haven University. First serve is set for 6:00pm ET inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.