Shelby Reese was hired as the head women's volleyball coach at Lackawanna College in August of 2022, and now enters her fourth season in charge of the program for the 2025 campaign.
Reese took over a program that needed a complete overhaul after competing with a limited roster in 2021, and had otherwise been dormant since the COVID 19 pandemic. Her first year saw marked improvement from the Falcons, as the program won its first match in almost three years to start the year, and competed hard throughout the season. Reese had a student-athlete, libero Melanie Pinillos, named as honorable mention All-EPAC.
In 2023, Reese and the Falcons had an unprecented jump in success, going 14-10 overall and capturing a a Region XIX Division II championship, the first for Lackawana College in 17 years. The Falcons were 7-8 just past the midway point of the season, before the team of all first-year players rattled off five wins in their final six regular season matches. Then, while hosting the Region XIX tournament, Lackawanna continued its winning ways, defeating both Delaware Tech CC and County College of Morris to win their first Region XIX championship since 2006. Ultimately, the Falcons fell to Harford CC in the Mid Atlantic District title match. Reese won a Region XIX DII Coach of the Year award for the Falcons' success, and she coached outside hitter Angelique Fuentes to a first team All-EPAC nod. Fuentes also earned an All-Region XIX DII nomination.
2024 saw the Falcons continue to their run of success winning 17 matches and reaching the Region XIX Division II championship match for the second straight season. Lackawanna was 8-4 in Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (EPAC) play and unbeaten in Region XIX DII action for the regular season. The Falcons were the top-seed and hosted the Region XIX DII tournament, but ultimately fell to Monroe University in the championship match. Despite the lack of championship hardware, the program took another huge step forward with Reese at the helm, as three Falcons were named to the All-Region XIX DII squad, including Player of the Year
Jana Hofmann, four Falcons were tabbed to the All-EPAC teams, and Hofmann made history as the first-ever All-American in volleyball from Lackawanna College, making the second team, nationally.
Reese had been employed at Lackawanna College since late Fall 2021 as an Athletic Academic Advisor, before adding head volleyball coach to her role at the College. Previous to her time at Lackawanna, She was the head women's volleyball coach for seven years at Cedar Crest College. Reese took a program that went 3-22 the year before her arrival, and turned the Cedar Crest Falcons into a perennial conference contender, culminating in a 20-win season in 2021, where Cedar Crest captured the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Reese compiled an 86-63 record in her seven years with Cedar Crest, including an impressive 75-31 record after her first two seasons, posting five straight winning seasons. The Falcons made two postseason appearances, going to the ECACs in 2019, and making the NCAA tournament in 2021. Morgan won CSAC Coach of the Year on three separate occasions, and, in 2021, had the Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Defensive Player of the Year on the first conference championship squad in school history.
In addition to her time as head coach at Cedar Crest, Reese also spent time at various coaching camps and with the East Coast Power Volleyball Club. She was also the Outdoor/Indoor Operations Coordinator for the Athletics department at Cedar Crest for four years, coordinating the various events, both varsity and otherwise, within the department.
Before her time at Cedar Crest, Shelby, an Abington Heights grad and NEPA native, was a standout volleyball player at Keystone College. Reese ranks in the top ten all-time in several categories, including kills in a season, and is ranked second all-time both in career kills and total attacks. She also ranks fifth and sixth all-time in career digs and service aces, respectively. Reese was a three-year captain for the Giants, and made the honorable mention All-CSAC team in three seasons.
