Women's Lacrosse 02.05.25

Team 17 Starts Season On Friday In Pontiac

Women's Lacrosse 02.05.25

Team 17 Starts Season On Friday In Pontiac

Junior Libby Cuckler and the Titans will look to start the season with a win at home.

DETROIT (2/5/2025) -- The new year is finally here and the Titans will begin the season at home as the University of Detroit Mercy women's lacrosse team's 17th varsity campaign will see the red, white and blue host San Diego State on Friday.

Game time is set for 2:00 p.m., at UWM Sports Complex in Pontiac, Michigan. There will be no live broadcast, but a live stats feed will be available.

Tickets to the contest are free.

After a season that saw the Titans reach the MAC Championship game, UDM is set to return 14 letterwinners and eight starters from last year's squad.

Alexa Matta leads the team as she was announced as the sixth head coach in school history last summer. She was previously the head coach for five seasons at Siena Heights.

Detroit Mercy returns four of its top five point scorers from a season ago as well as All-MAC Second Team selections in seniors Maddy Camm and Leah Bodnar, and junior Alyssa Jarvis. Bodnar is the leading returning scorer with 42 points and 33 goals. Camm led the squad with 35 caused turnovers and 44 ground balls, while Jarvis posted a team-high 67 draw controls.

Also returning is senior Meredith Leavell after she tallied a school-record 187 saves in net.

San Diego State is coming to the Midwest for a pair of games as it will play at Eastern Michigan on Sunday. The Aztecs were 2-14 last season.

Following the game, the Titans will head to Arizona State next weekend.

SEASON 17 FOR THE TITANS

The first-ever game for the Titans was on Feb. 21, 2009, a 20-1 road victory at Howard.
The red, white, and blue posted their first winning season in 2015 at 10-8 and broke that mark with a school-record 12-8 mark in 2016 and had another winning ledger at 10-8 in 2018.
The Titans have been on the doorstep of the NCAA Tournament before, making four straight trips to the Atlantic Sun Championship game from 2013 to 2016 and the MAC Championship game last year.
UDM is 92-169 all-time, but 47-51 in its conference games throughout the years as members of the National Lacrosse Conference (2010-12), ASUN (2013-17), Southern Conference (2018-19) and the MAC (2020-present).
Seven Titans have guided the program in Mary Ann Meltzer (2009-11), Laura Maness (2012-16), Laurie Merian (2017-2018), Megan Callahan (2019-20), Dwayne Hicks (2021-23), Madeline Dugan (2024) and now first-year head coach Alexa Matta.

LET'S GET OFF TO A GOOD START

Detroit Mercy is 2-14 all-time in season openers, as the Titans have dropped 14 straight openers after winning their first two against Howard (20-1) and Saint Francis (16-5) in 2009 and 2010.
UDM is 5-11 all-time in home openers but has dropped five in a row, with its last victory a 17-13 decision over Butler in 2019.

STAYING WARM

Detroit Mercy is 3-8 all-time at home in indoor games and 3-5 when the contests are played at the UWM Sports Complex.
The other two indoor home games were played at Country Day High School.
The last home win indoors was a 17-13 over Butler in Pontiac in 2019.

VS. SAN DIEGO STATE

Detroit Mercy and San Diego State have met three previous times as the Aztecs lead the all-time series, 2-1. The lone win was an 18-16 contest on the road in 2012.
UDM and SDSU have met once before in the Great Lakes State as the Titans fell, 18-7, at UWM Sports Complex in 2017.

LOOKING TO DEFEND HOME

Detroit Mercy is 45-61 all-time in home games and was 3-3 last year after going 2-20 from 2020-2023.

HONOR THY CAPTAIN

Seniors Maddy Camm, Sophie Davis, and junior Alyssa Jarvis will be honored to wear the "C" this season.
"Their leadership, dedication, and passion set the tone for the entire team, and we're confident they'll guide us to something special this year," said head coach Alexa Matta.

LEADING THE SAAC

Senior Sophie Davis will have the honor of leading the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Along with Davis, Erin Balbontin, Ava Bandi, Emily Coyne, Ashleigh Dixon, Alyssa Jarvis, Jaeda Jensen, Tunie Mullen, Avary Sacdalan, Julia Stanley and Gabrianna Vasquez are all members of SAAC.
The members of SAAC are considered to be leaders among the student-athlete and campus community. The main focus for discussion consists of 5 areas or pillars of student-athlete life. They include Academic Excellence, Athletic Success, Servant Leadership, Culture and Well-Being. SAAC representatives are the voice for their team. Not only is their personal opinion shared, but that of the team is taken into consideration while in collaborative discussions. Meetings are held on a monthly basis and are open to all interested student-athletes. There is no limit on the number of representatives for each team as wide-spread participation is welcome!
SAAC is advised by members of the Student Services unit and works collectively with all of the coaches and administration.

ACADEMICALLY SPEAKING

The Titans posted a 3.30 GPA in the first semester - the second highest in the athletic department - with 11 players registering a 3.5 and 22 student-athletes garnering a 3.0.
The program also posted a perfect 100% GSR in the latest report released by the NCAA in December and was named an IWLCA Academic Squad for the 14th time in school history last summer.

YES I CAMM CAMM

Senior Maddy Camm is back after being named All-MAC Second Team last season after leading the team with 35 caused turnovers and 44 ground balls, second with 55 draw controls, third with 39 points and 25 goals, and leading the team with 14 assists, all career highs.
She led the conference and was 22nd in the nation with 1.94 caused turnovers per game, fifth in the record book, while her 35 total takeaways rank fourth in school history. Her 2.44 ground balls per game were fourth in the MAC and 50th in the country, and 55 draw controls stand ninth among the Titan greats.
She posted a caused turnover in 17 of the 18 games, including 13 with two or more and five with a career-best three, and tallied a ground ball in every game with at least three in nine contests.
Camm also notched a point in 16 games, reaching at least three eight times, and also scored a goal in 14 contests, with multi-goals in six outings.
She comes into the year with 58 caused turnovers - eighth in school history - 84 draw controls, 81 ground balls with 37 goals and 26 assists.

OUR ALL-MAC IS BACK

Senior Leah Bodnar is a two-time All-MAC Second Team selection.
Saw ended the year second on the team with 42 points and 33 goals, third with nine assists, second with 15 caused turnovers and fifth with 24 ground balls, all career-highs. She also recorded a hat trick in eight games on the season, all in the last 12 games. She tied her career high with seven points on a career-tying five goals, a career-high four takeaways and picked up four ground balls against Kennesaw State.
In her career, she has played in 46 games and has 58 goals, 15 assists, 73 points, 44 ground balls, 41 draw controls and 22 caused turnovers.

BRINGING IT DOWN

Junior Alyssa Jarvis had a break through season as a sophomore as she was named All-MAC Second Team after topping the team with 67 draw controls to go with 10 caused turnovers and 26 ground balls. Her 3.72 draw controls per game were fourth in the MAC and seventh in the school record book, while her 67 total draws are sixth in Titan history.
She was also fourth on the team with 24 points and 20 goals, scoring a goal in 14 games, including seven straight to start the season.
Jarvis secured a career-high 11 draw controls - tied for fourth in school history - at Central Michigan and tied her career-high with three goals to go with six draws, two takeaways and two ground balls versus Youngstown State.
She is currently fourth in school history with 2.66 draw controls per game, while her 85 draw controls are 12 in school history.

OFF THE HOOK

Junior Angelina Hook saw action in just four games as a freshman, but last season,
she played in 16 games with 11 starts and recorded 15 ground balls and five caused turnovers.
She had two caused turnovers and two ground balls at Pittsburgh and tallied a caused turnover and two ground balls against Kent State.

NOT IN MY NET

Senior Meredith Leavell had herself a career year last season as she continues to attack the Detroit Mercy record book.
She enters the year with 388 saves, third in school history, fourth with 9.02 saves per game, second with a .445 save percentage, and fourth with a 13.75 goals-against average. Her 90 ground balls have her approaching top 10 in that category.
She started all 18 games in net and recorded a school-record 187 saves, leading the MAC and finishing 21st in the nation with a .468 save percentage, second in school history. Leavell was also second in the league and fourth in the nation in total saves, third in the conference and eighth in the country with 10.39 saves per game, and second in the MAC and fifth in school history with a 13.00 goals-against average.
She was a monster, turning teams away on the free position, coming away with 21 saves, and also had 31 ground balls, second on the team.
Leavell registered 10 games on the year with double-digit saves and four games allowing less than 10 goals.
In the postseason, she posted a career-high 18 saves - tied for fifth in school history - and two ground balls in the MAC Championship semifinals win at Central Michigan, coming up with five stops in the first period and five in the fourth quarter, and then had 12 saves in the title game versus Robert Morris to earn All-Tournament honors.

GIVE ME LIBERTY

Junior Libby Cuckler played in all 18 games, with 15 starts, and was fifth on the team with 23 points, second handing out 12 assists, and sixth, registering 11 goals last season.
She was always on frame as 29 of her 38 shots were on net for a .763 shots-on-goal percentage, and was tied for second on the team with four free-position goals.
She posted a career-high four points on two goals and two assists, along with a takeaway and GB, against Kennesaw State and recorded a career-high three assists versus Eastern Michigan. Cuckler had another four-point game with a career-best three goals and an assist at Butler.

STAY AWAY FROM OF MY SIDE

Senior Katie Bilello has been a mainstay on the defensive side of the ball since arriving in the Motor City.
She has played in 46 career games with 38 starts and has tallied 26 caused turnovers, 51 ground balls and nine draw controls.
Last season, she had 10 caused turnovers and 19 ground balls, registering a career-high three caused turnovers with a ground ball against Marquette. She also had a caused turnover and three GB's in the MAC Championship semifinals win over Central Michigan and a takeaway and ground ball in the title game against Robert Morris.

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Players Mentioned

#3 Erin Balbontin: MF; 5' 4"; Sophomore

#55 Katie Bilello: D; 5' 4"; Senior

#33 Leah Bodnar: MF; 5' 8"; Senior

#27 Maddy Camm: MF; 5' 7"; Senior

#8 Libby Cuckler: A; 5' 7"; Junior

#26 Sophie Davis: D; 5' 10"; Senior

#11 Angelina Hook: D; 5' 7"; Junior

#2 Alyssa Jarvis: MF; 5' 3"; Junior

#41 Meredith Leavell: GK; 5' 3"; Senior

#23 Emily Coyne: GK; 5' 10"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#3 Erin Balbontin
: 5' 4"; Sophomore
: MF

#55 Katie Bilello
: 5' 4"; Senior
: D

#33 Leah Bodnar
: 5' 8"; Senior
: MF

#27 Maddy Camm
: 5' 7"; Senior
: MF

#8 Libby Cuckler
: 5' 7"; Junior
: A

#26 Sophie Davis
: 5' 10"; Senior
: D

#11 Angelina Hook
: 5' 7"; Junior
: D

#2 Alyssa Jarvis
: 5' 3"; Junior
: MF

#41 Meredith Leavell
: 5' 3"; Senior
: GK

#23 Emily Coyne
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: GK