Gwnyedd Mercy Box Score | Bryn Mawr Box Score | Penn State Berks Box Score
Bryn Mawr, PA — Taking into account the heartbreak that occurred the last time the Messiah College volleyball team took the floor competitively, things couldn't have gone much better for the squad at Saturday's Bryn Mawr College Quad Match.
Messiah rattled off three straight 3-0 decisions in a little more than six hours, capturing its first shutout decisions of the season in a rare volleyball double-sweep. The Falcons first knocked out Gwynedd Mercy College (25-16, 25-15, 25-14) and followed with wins over host Bryn Mawr (25-21, 27-25, 25-18) and Penn State Berks (25-11, 25-6, 25-15).
It was exactly what the team needed according to head coach Judi Tobias, as the Falcons cleansed themselves of the bitterness left over from Wednesday's agonizing 3-2 loss to McDaniel College.
“It was good to see the girls rebound like this,” Tobias said. “We came with a lot of energy today, we didn't look tentative and we didn't hold back. I thought we played aggressively and we played well. We were able to run some things and able to get everyone some playing time, which is important for a lot of reasons.”
Messiah (4-2) got progressively more efficient offensively throughout the day, registering a team attack percentage of .145 against Gwynedd Mercy (0-2) before erupting for .241 and .400 percentages in the final two matches — both season highs.
Tobias' club used a dominance-by-committee approach in the morning's first match, dealing Gwynedd Mercy a quick loss despite putting no one in double-figure kill totals. Senior Leslie Heffner led the way with six attacks for points, one of seven players to record at least two kills. Junior Lauren Bourdon (11 assists) shared time with sophomore Jessica Gould (nine assists) in running the offense, while senior Meghan Morrissey's 11 digs was the only double-digit tally in that category.
Facing arguably its toughest competition against the host Owls in the day's second match, Messiah stayed a step ahead thanks to an impressive second-set hitting performance, registering a quad-match high 18 kills on a .317 attack clip. Those marks helped the Falcons hang on to a 27-25 win, paced by Heffner's 12 kills. Senior Amy Mattie recorded 11, while freshman Cassy Diamond notched double-figure kill totals for the first time as a collegian with 10.
Bourdon dished out 20 assists with only two ball handling errors, while Morrissey, Gould and Mattie accounted for 24 of the team's 33 digs.
“Bryn Mawr provided us with a good test,” Tobias said. “We've got six first-year kids and a transfer on our roster, so we're still kind of getting to know ourselves a little bit. We were pleased with how our level of play stayed pretty consistent today no matter what line up we had on the floor.”
All 15 members of the active roster saw court time against Penn State Berks (1-2), as the Falcons cruised to their most lopsided win of the season to date. Fourteen first-set kills came via a .458 attack percentage, while the squad erupted for a .727 attack percentage in a 25-6 second-set win.
Diamond again came up strong, charting a team-leading 10 kills to go with five service aces. Bourdon finished with 17 helpers while Morrissey scooped a match-high 11 digs.
“Cassy played very well for us today, and she's beginning to adapt to the college game,” Tobias said. “(Junior) Sam(antha Bradley) was consistent for us again all day long, and (senior) Trisha Trosper got us some key points against Bryn Mawr. I felt this was a good confidence builder for us. It's not easy to go 3-0 for a tournament and go 3-0 in every match that you play. Hopefully our confidence will continue to grow as a result and we can continue to elevate our overall level of play.”
Messiah will return to its home court next, as the team will host Shenandoah University Wednesday night. Match time is set for 7:00 p.m.
