9/11/26
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College women's volleyball has been off for ten days, but the Falcons are finally set to get back to regular season play when they travel for a tri-match against Messiah University and Notre Dame of Maryland University on Saturday, September 12^th, inside Hitchcock Arena on the campus of Messiah in Grantham, PA. Lackawanna will face the hosts at 11:00am ET, then ND of Maryland at 1:30pm ET, before Messiah and ND face off in the finale at 4:00pm ET.
 
The Falcons
Lackawanna College (0-2) hasn't been in action since September 1^st, when the Falcons fell, 3-1, to Monroe University in a home match in Scranton. The Falcons lost set one, 25-8, and it seemed like a repeat of past matches against Monroe, but Lackawanna rallied in set two for an impressive 25-21 victory, knotting up the match. Monroe won a tight third set, then breezed past the Falcons in set four for the win. You can read the full match recap HERE.
 
In two matches this season, the Falcons are struggling to get their offense going, hitting at -.028, with 41 kills and 47 errors. Opponents are hitting .221 against the Falcons, and the opposition has 24 aces this year, a 3.4 aces per set average. Lackawanna averages 1.1 blocks per set on the year. Their opponents have 16.1 digs per set, while the Falcons average just under 12 per set.
 
Jana Hofmann (Colorado Springs, CO) leads the team with 12 kills, 1.71 per set, on even hitting so far this season. Hofmann had seven kills against Pace, then five kills against Monroe, along with ten digs. 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 behind Hofmann with eleven kills this year, and she's first on the team with a .171 hitting percentage. Bedics has eleven digs on the year and two total blocks. She had six kills on .115 hitting and eleven digs against Monroe.
 
Third-year middle blocker Neurdia Osias (Huntington Station, NY) is third on the team at eight kills on the year, averaging just over a killer per set. Osias has four total blocks, first on the team. She had six kills against Monroe last week.
 
First-year setter Kady Schreiner (Mountaintop, PA) had a breakout performance last week in her first true action, dishing out 23 assists in the loss for the Falcons. Schreiner had not previously appeared for Lackawanna.
 
Coach Shelby Reese is entering 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 Falcons return a good mix of players from the last few seasons, including a pair of returners who sat out last year but remained with the program and at Lackawanna, all in hopes of competing once again with the Falcons as they began the transition to a Division II program.
 
That mix of experience will be paired with a few new faces, and it's something coach Reese is hoping develops the chemistry and foundation that will be critical to building a winning program.
 
The big target for the Falcons is Hofmann, the third-year outside hitter. Hofmann was a two-time Region XIX POTY and an NJCAA All-American in 2024. Hofmann has 524 kills and 152 aces in her two years with the Falcons, and the big-swinging righty is looking to elevate her game on a bigger stage this season, while leading the Falcons. Paired alongside Jana is fellow three-year returner Osias. The middle blocker finished 2025 strong after a slow start, recording over 100 kills (109) and hitting .265. Other key returners include middle blocker Ciona Braziel (Fort Worth, TX), libero Delianie Del Bois (New Port Richey, FL), and defensive specialist Mekenzie Dineen (Wilmington, DE).
 
Another pair of returners are back for their third year competing after spending last year on the sidelines: Outside/Middle Nadia Toth (Dalton, PA) and outside hitter Angelique Fuentes (Miami, FL). Toth was a productive, versatile player for the Falcons in 2023 and 2024, manning the middle when called upon and patrolling the outside for attacking chances. Fuentes led the Falcons in 2023 with over 200 kills, played well in 2024, and returns now in hopes of adding some depth to the offensive attack for the Falcons.
 
Amongst the new players to look for are first-year outside hitter Bedics and libero/defensive specialist Adalee Rosado Rivera (Guyama, Puerto Rico). Bedics recorded over 1,000 kills in four years of competition at Bethlehem Catholic, including 400 her senior year, and was a first-team All-division selection for the district champion Hawks. Rivera is a third-year transfer from Cowley College in Kansas, where she was a part of back-to-back national championships in 2023 and 2024. She had 92 assists and 288 digs in her appearances.
 
The Messiah Falcons
Messiah (4-1) comes in having won four-straight matches, the last two in 3-0 sweeps, and is hoping to keep building momentum before leaping into MAC Commonwealth play in NCAA Division III. The Falcons were picked to finish third, earning two first-place votes behind Stevenson (4) and Eastern (3). In their last match, the Falcons swept past Penn State Brandywine (26-24, 25-19, 25-20) to open their home slate. Messiah hit .206 on the night and had eleven aces in the win.
 
Makenzie Adams had eleven kills, while Sydney Wolfe put up nine kills and Leah Youtzy posted eight kills. Adams had four aces, Youtzy and Wolfe each had two blocks, and Clara Conner had 33 assists.
 
On the year, Messiah averages 13.1 kills per set and is hitting .222 on the year. The Falcons hold their opponents to .120 hitting this year. Messiah has 55 aces this year, averaging just under three aces per set, and they average 1.6 blocks per set.
 
Messiah returned all but three players from last year's team, including three all-conference selections (Cassidy Dell, Katie Quesenberry, and Makenzie Adams). They also brought back five key contributors and three more bench spots from last year's team.
 
Adams is a junior outside hitter who leads the Falcons this year with 61 kills in five matches, averaging 3.2 kills per set and hitting at .149 this year. She also has 16 service aces, tops on the team. Adams also leads the Falcons with 74 digs this season. Adams has four contests with double-digit kills on the season, posting a season-high 15 kills, seven aces, and 20 digs against Buffalo State. She hit .258 against Lycoming, posting 13 kills.
 
Wolfe is a sophomore right side hitter who has 54 kills in five matches, averaging three kills per set and hitting .277 this season. Wolfe has 20 digs and is third on the team with eleven total blocks. She posted a season-high 16 kills against Buffalo State this season, hitting .351. She had just four kills on .444 hitting against Lycoming, and posted nine kills in the win against PSU Brandywine.
 
Senior middle hitter Leah Youtzy has 42 kills on the season, averaging 2.2 kills per set this season and hitting .283 on the year. Youtzy is second on the team with 12 total blocks. Youtzy has a pair of double-digit kill performances so far this season, posting ten kills against Buffalo State and Olivet, hitting .333 in both contests.
 
First-year setter Clara Conner has 197 assists, averaging 10.4 per set, and she's also posted 12 kills on the year. Conner has 40 digs, third on the team, and she has six block assists. She had a season-best 47 assists against Buffalo State, while also putting up 16 digs. Conner also had 46 assists in four sets in the win against Olivet. She had three kills, 33 assists, and two aces in the win against PSU Brandywine. She hasn't had a match with less than 30 assists on the year.
 
Holly Motheral is the head coach at Messiah, entering her tenth season for the 2026 campaign. She's a two-time conference coach of the year and has coached two conference Players of the Year, three conference Rookies of the Year, and four AVCA All-American honorees. Motheral has 184 wins in her career, and her 2024 team won a MAC Commonwealth championship and earned the Falcons an NCAA tournament bid. Motheral played her volleyball at Houghton College (NY), where she was a four-year middle blocker and was a two-time All-American Mideast Conference player in the NAIA. She has a bachelor's degree from Houghton and a master's degree from the University of Rio Grande in Education Leadership. After a year as an assistant at Montreat College in North Carolina, Motheral went to Taylor University to be the head coach for the Trojans, leading them to an NAIA tournament championship appearance in 2014.
 
The Gators
Notre Dame of Maryland University (1-3) comes in on a two-game skid, dropping a 3-1 loss to McDaniel on September 9^th. After splitting the first two sets, NDMU fell 25-23 and 25-22 in the third and fourth sets, battling but coming up short against the Green Terror. NDMU hit .250 for the match and out-killed McDaniel, 51-48. The Gators also had nine aces and had less errors than McDaniel, but still couldn't pull out the win.
 
NDMU is hitting .152 as a team this season, posting 135 kills and averaging 10.4 kills per set, while opponents are hitting .179 and averaging 11.2 kills per set. The Gators have 36 aces and average 2.8 aces per set. They out-dig their opponents (13.4 to 11.9 per set), but their opponents average 1.6 blocks per set, while the Gators are at 0.8 blocks per set.
 
Senior opposite Kaliyah Brown was an all-conference selection last season for the Gators, and she's up to 48 kills in four matches this season, averaging 3.7 kills per set and hitting .205 so far. She's second on the team with nine aces, and her 30 digs on the season are second on the team. Brown has double-digit kills in all four contests this season, with her season-high 16 kills coming against McDaniel, hitting .243 and posting ten digs. She has a pair of double-doubles, getting ten kills and 12 digs against Hood College, in the only win for NDMU this season.
 
Junior outside hitter Bryanna Carter is second on the team with 39 kills and is averaging three kills per set, hitting .193 on the year. Carter has one double-digit match in kills this year, posting a team-best 20 kills on .341 hitting against McDaniel.
 
Senior outside hitter Myla Palmer is third on the team with 16 kills, averaging 1.2 kills per set in her four matches and posting four block assists, second on the team in total blocks. Palmer has twice gone for six kills this year, posting six against Shenandoah and McDaniel.
 
First-year setter Oliviya Rodriguez has 76 assists this season, first on the team, and is averaging 5.85 helpers per set. Rodriguez has 22 digs, tied for third on the team, and she has four aces this year. Rodriguez has two games with 20 or more assists, posting 23 assists in the loss to Shenandoah, her season-high. She had 22 digs against McDaniel on Wednesday.
 
Henry DeTitta is the head coach at NDMU, and he's been in charge since 2007, now entering his 20^th season at the helm. DeTitta has won one conference championship in his time with the Gators (CSAC Champions, 2018) and was named the coach of the year. He has 260 career wins, far and away the most wins in program history. DeTitta's teams in 2017, 2018, and 2019 were some of his best, posting 73 combined wins in all three years, including back-to-back seasons with 25 wins.
 
The Gators were picked to finish sixth in the United East Conference in 2026.
 
Match Details
Lackawanna College (0-2) at Messiah University (4-1)
Saturday 9/12, 11:00am ET; Hitchcock Arena (One University Avenue, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055)
 
Lackawanna College (0-2) at Notre Dame of Maryland (1-3)
Saturday 9/12, 1:30pm ET; Hitchcock Arena (One University Avenue, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055)
 
Live Video: Go MAC Sports TV
Live Stats: Messiah Live Stats
 
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Next up, Lackawanna College will return home for a first-ever PSAC match-up with East Stroudsburg University. First serve is set for 6:00pm ET inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium on Tuesday, September 15^th.