9/15/26
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College women's volleyball finally gets into PSAC play with a home match against East Stroudsburg University on Tuesday, September 15^th, as the Falcons host the Warriors for their first-ever match-up. First serve is set for 6:00pm ET inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.
 
The Falcons
Lackawanna College (0-4) is on the wrong-side of a four-game skid to open the year, and the Falcons most recently dropped a pair of matches in the same day in a tri-match at Messiah University, losing to the hosts in straight sets (25-14, 25-18, 28-26) and then to Notre Dame of Maryland University in three sets (25-16, 25-20, 25-19). The theme was the same across both matches, as the Falcons committed multiple self-inflicted errors in each match. Lackawanna had 26 hitting and receiving errors against Messiah, and 31 more attack and receiving errors against NDMD. You can read the full recap HERE.
 
Through their first four matches, the Falcons are struggling to get the offense going, hitting at -.002, with 87 kills and 88 errors. Opponents are hitting .200 against the Falcons, and the opposition has 41 aces this year, a 3.2 aces per set average. Lackawanna averages just under a block per set on the year. Their opponents have 16.2 digs per set, while the Falcons average 12.5 per set.
 
First-year outside hitter Sophia Bedics (Bethlehem, PA) is tops on the Falcons so far this season with 27 kills, 2.08 per set, while hitting .189, best on the team. Bedics has 18 digs on the year and three total blocks. She had 16 combined kills, eight in each match, over the weekend against Messiah and NDMD.
 
Junior outside hitter Jana Hofmann (Colorado Springs, CO) is second behind Bedics with 21 kills, 1.62 per set, on just above even hitting this season. Hofmann's six aces are first on the team this season, and her 33 digs are second on the squad. Jana had six kills and 13 digs against Messiah in the first match on Saturday, but had just three kills and eight digs against Notre Dame in the second match. 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 third on the team with 14 kills through her first four matches, averaging 1.27 kills per set and hitting at .143. Nadia is second on the team, tied with Bedics, in total blocks (3.0) and has a pair of digs this season. After a strong showing against Monroe, where she had seven kills on .263 hitting, Nadia posted five kills against Messiah in match one, before only getting two kills on five attempts in match two against Notre Dame.
 
Third-year middle blocker Neurdia Osias (Huntington Station, NY) is fourth on the team at ten kills on the year, averaging under a kill per set. Osias has six total blocks, first on the team. She had six kills against Monroe earlier this month, but was held without a kill against Messiah. She had two kills and a block assist against Notre Dame this weekend.
 
Third-year libero/defensive specialist Adalee Rosado River (Guyama, Puerto Rico) leads the Falcons with 24 assists this season in her four matches, posting a pair of kills and five aces, second on the team. Rosado Rivera leads the Falcons with 34 digs this season. She had a combined 18 assists and 17 digs in two matches this past weekend, posting two kills, seven assists, and 13 digs in the loss to Messiah, and then eleven more assists, her season-high, against Notre Dame.
 
First-year setter Kady Schreiner (Mountaintop, PA) had a breakout performance earlier this month in her first true action, dishing out 23 assists in the loss for the Falcons in the loss to Monroe. 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: Toth 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 Bedics and Rosado Rivera. 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 Warriors
East Stroudsburg (6-5) enters the match as winners of their last two and five of their last six, their only blemish a 3-2 loss to Seton Hill in that stretch. The Warriors were last in action on Saturday, 9/12, when they won a pair of four-setters against West Virginia Wesleyan and Charleston. Jadyn Orava, who would win PSAC EAST WVB POTW for her outstanding performances, put up 22 kills against WVW and then 28 kills against Charleston, the latter mark setting a school-record for kills in a four-set match.
 
In match one, WVW won the first set of their match, 29-27, and the second set went to ESU, 26-24, setting expectations for a tight match, but the Warriors blew past the Bobcats to 25-14 wins in sets three and four to take it home, hitting .252 for the match and .297 over those final two sets, while WVW imploded, committing 16 hitting errors and hitting -0.039 for the final pair of sets.
 
In match two, ESU hit .308 and piled up 62 kills as a team, posting eleven aces and overcoming a strong block performance from Charleston (7 stuffs) to win in four sets. ESU won sets one and two by 25-19 and 25-20 scores, but Charleston won set three, 25-23, to force a fourth set. In set four, the Eagles led 22-17, but ESU rallied on an 8-1 surge to take the set, 25-23, and therefore the match.
 
East Stroudsburg is hitting .202 this season and averages 12 kills per set, while their opponents are hitting .200 and average 11.3 kills per set. The Warriors average just over two aces per set, and they are at 1.7 blocks per set, while their opponents block just under two per set. The Warriors have posted 12.5 digs per set this year, while the opposition averages slightly higher at 12.8.
 
The Warriors are led this season by junior outside hitter Jadyn Orava, who has 169 kills in ten matches, averaging 4.6 kills per set on .282 hitting this year. Orava is third on the team with 13 aces this season, and she's second on the team with 88 digs (2.38 per set) and has ten blocks, including eight block assists. Orava has gone over ten kills in eight matches this season, four times going for 20+ kills. Orava had 20 kills and 16 digs, a season-high for digs, in five sets against Bowie State to open the year. Her combined 50 kills in two matches this weekend was highlighted by her 28 kills on a season-best .389 hitting against Charleston. She has three double-doubles this season, posting double-digit digs in three matches. Orava was named the PSAC East AOTW in women's volleyball, posting 91 kills and 33 digs in four matches last week.
 
Junior outside hitter Kelly Crites is second on the team with 72 total kills in ten matches, averaging 2.06 kills per set on .108 hitting for the Warriors this season. Crites has 61 digs, averaging 1.74 per set, and has six block assists this year. Crites has gone for ten or more kills in five matches this season, posting a double-double against Seton Hill, going for ten kills and a season-best 13 digs. Against Charleston, she had her season-best 15 kills and eight digs. Her best hitting performance was eleven kills on .375 and nine digs against St. Thomas Aquinas.
 
First-year right-side hitter Ryle Ruggiero is third on the team with 69 kills, just under two per set, and hitting .214 this season. Ruggiero is second on the team with 24 total blocks, including 21 block assists this season. Ruggiero set her season-best against Bowie State in the opener, posting eleven kills on .250 hitting. She also had four block assists. Ruggiero has gone for six or more kills in her last six matches, posting eight kills in each of her last three matches. She had eight kills against both WV Wesleyan and Charleston, hitting for .353 against the Golden Eagles in the second match.
 
Sophomore setter Georgia Stevens leads the Warriors with 250 assists on the year, averaging 9.26 helpers per set, and she is second on the team with 15 aces. Stevens also has 52 digs and has eight block assists in her eight matches. Georgia's season-high for assists came in the first match, posting 51 assists in five sets against Bowie State. She had 42 assists against Lees-McRae in the second match of the season, along with four aces. She tied her season-best for four aces against Southern New Hampshire, where she also posted 34 assists. Stevens has not played in a week, missing the last three matches. She had 22 assists in two sets against Holy Family.
 
The head coach for the Warriors is John Forman, in his first season in charge. Forman brings nearly 30 years of coaching experience to the Warriors, having coached at various levels of the NCAA system, as well as coaching overseas in professional leagues and in collegiate leagues. Before coming to ESU, Forman was the indoor performance director for Volleyball England, helping to support the national junior and senior teams, while budgeting, managing camp and competition calendars, and cultivating relationships with coaches, team managers, and partners. Before that, he spent time at Radford University, Medaille College, Midwestern State University, the University of Exeter in England, Dean College, University of Rhode Island, and Brown University. Forman is a Rhode Island graduate, earning his bachelor's degree in business administration. He picked up a master's in business administration from the University of Maryland at College Park, and then a Ph.D. in Behavioral Finance from the University of Exeter.
 
The Warriors were the PSAC champions last year, defeating Gannon in the championship match before falling in the Atlantic Regional. Gannon would go on to finish in the Elite Eight. This year's Warriors squad was picked to finish third in the PSAC East, receiving one first-place vote, while Shippensburg (5) and Shepherd (2) were picked ahead. Anna Coulter, who was a three-time PSAC East POTY for the Warriors, graduated the program, but has returned as an assistant coach at ESU.
 
Match Details
East Stroudsburg University (6-5) at Lackawanna College (0-4)
Tuesday 9/15, 6:00pm ET; Lackawanna College Student Union Gymnasium (500 Jefferson Avenue, Scranton, PA 18510)
 
Live Video: Lackawanna College Athletics Network
Live Stats: Lackawanna Falcons Live Stats
Tickets: Lackawanna College Athletics Tickets
 
There will be a live video stream available via the Lackawanna College Athletics Network, as well as the PSAC Digital Network.
 
Tickets for the event can be purchased ahead of time at the above link, or in-person at the gymnasium. Tickets can only be purchased electronically, both online and in-person.
 
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Next up, Lackawanna College stays in PSAC play when the Falcons hit the road to take on Lock Haven University on Saturday, September 19^th. First serve is set for 1:00pm ET inside Thomas Fieldhouse in Lock Haven, PA.