Box Score
Grantham, PA — It was another notch in the win column for the Messiah College volleyball team Wednesday night, as the Falcons dispatched visiting Shenandoah University 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21) in Hitchcock Arena.
Despite being the team's fourth straight win and first at home this season, head coach Judi Tobias said Wednesday's competition was more about finding the team's identity and less about the end result, however pleasing that may have been.
“We are team that's figuring ourselves out right now,” Tobias said after her squad cruised to its methodical win. “We're trying to figure out what makes us play sharper at times than at others. We didn't play as flat tonight as we did at the very start of the year, but we were not as sharp as we've shown we can be. It's still early September, but we're trying to figure out how to get where we want to go.”
Messiah (5-2) made things only a bit more difficult than plausible Wednesday, surrendering a 22-25 third set after connecting on just .132 percent of a total 53 attacking attempts. Incredibly, that number plummeted to .045 in the deciding fourth set, but was belied by a strong serving game; Tobias' squad finished the night with 16 total aces.
The Falcons cruised through the opening stanzas with little resistance from Shenandoah (3-4) , as junior Samantha Bradley (12 total kills, four block assists and two solo blocks) began to heat up. Senior Leslie Heffner finished with nine total kills, while senior Trisha Trosper and freshman Cassy Diamond each hammered down six kills.
Messiah then opened up a large lead in the final set, eventually settling on a 25-21 difference after a brief Hornets' run closed the gap.
“We made too many errors, especially in the third set,” Tobias said. “Shenandoah gave us a lot of free balls, a lot of down balls, we just made some mistakes and didn't play to the max of our ability.”
Junior Lauen Bourdon finished with a game-high 20 assists, while senior Meghan Morrissey claimed 10 digs in her libero position. Bradley's two solo blocks were flanked by singular denials from both Heffner and Diamond.
“Sam just finds ways to get kills,” Tobias said of Bradley's unique style at the net. “Sometimes she's unorthodox, but that's fine with me.”
With just one competitive date separating the club from the start of MAC Commonwealth Conference play, Tobias said she hopes the team continues to find its collective niche.
“We talked about defining ourselves,” Tobias said. “We talked a lot about living in the moment. I think some of us are starting to get bogged down as the academic calendar gets more involved, but we're trying to leave those things behind and getting back to them once our task at hand is finished. I believe these girls love to play volleyball with one another. We've got to enjoy that moment each and every time out.”
The Falcons will next travel to Catholic University for the Catholic Tri-Match Saturday. Messiah will open against Hood College at 12 p.m. and faced the host Cardinals in a 2 p.m. tilt.
