FDU-Florham Box Score | FDU-Florham vs. PSU-Altoona Box Score | PSU-Altoona Box Score
Grantham, PA — The Messiah volleyball program successfully kicked off the institution's Centennial Homecoming weekend in a way that none of the Falcons' other sports teams could Friday evening:
All spectators and athletes remained dry. And warm.
With consistent rains threatening to cancel a slew of Saturday's outdoor activities, the Falcons hosted the first of two home tri-matches Friday evening, splitting matches against FDU-Florham (18-25, 25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 8-15) and Penn State University-Altoona (25-22, 20-25, 27-25, 25-17).
Penn State-Altoona handed FDU-Florham a 3-1 (27-29, 25-14, 25-18, 25-16) defeat in the event's other match.
Despite concluding the evening with a win, Messiah head coach Judi Tobias said she was slightly disappointed with her team's overall play, as the Falcons dropped to 11-12 on the year with the split decision.
“I'm going to be honest,” Tobias said late Friday night. “I expected to win both. We knew we were going to have to play well and executing plays was going to be an absolute necessity. Today we just didn't get it done as well as I was hoping. We definitely could have played better than we did. I was really hoping to go over .500 today.”
Tobias' club was solidly handled by FDU-Florham (15-13) in the initial set of the opener, but rebounded to take a decisive 2-1 lead after three sets. However, the fourth set proved to be costly for the Falcons, as an early lead quickly evaporated, leading to a 22-25 loss and the team's eighth fifth-set match of the year.
An early 5-1 lead from the Devils in the final set proved to be too much to overcome for Messiah, however, as the Falcons fell to 3-5 in events going the full distance.
"FDU-Florham was hard to beat but we were definitely playing better,” Tobias said. “We lost it in the fourth set, though. We had a lead and we lost it and we ended up losing the entire match.”
Three different players posted double-digit kill totals for the Falcons, including sophomore Cassy Diamond with a team-high 13. Sophomore Emily Hall added 12 kills on a .222 attack percentage, while classmate Brynn Lettieri contributed 10 kills of her own.
Messiah possessed an 11-8 lead in the aforementioned fourth set, but FDU-Florham responded with a 10-3 run to go up 18-14. The Falcons were able to claw back to a 21-21 draw, but three straight attacking errors helped the Devils regain a 24-21 advantage en route to the 25-22 match-changer.
“That's what happens to us sometimes when we get leads,” Tobias said. “We have mental letdowns. We don't have as big of dips as we used to, but we still we tend to coast.”
Tobias's squad was determined to rid themselves of the sour taste in the their mouth after a bitter defeat, however, standing by to watch Penn State-Altoona show off its skills in dispatching FDU-Florham by a 3-1 score.
Perhaps refreshed from the brief respite, the Falcons achieved their goal, taking down the Lions in four sets.
The Falcons captured a much-needed 25-22 victory in the first set of the match, but a late meltdown in the second set kept the outcome of the match in doubt heading into the final two stanzas.
The Falcons eked out a huge 27-25 win in the third set, however, before solidly pounding Penn State-Altoona in the fourth and final frame by a 25-17 difference.
“Things got a little haywire in the third set but we were able to handle it pretty well,” Tobias said. “(Freshman) Lindsay (King) got hurt so we threw Emily Hall in the middle. She hasn't played there since high school and she was able to adjust pretty well. I was definitely impressed. She made some nice plays and held her own.”
King — who suffered a sprained ankle midway through the third set — did not return following her injury. Hall helped balance a shorter Falcons' lineup with four kills on 19 swings, however, perhaps sparking the team to the win.
Freshman Lauren Rees led the Falcons' scoring attack in the nightcap, contributing an incredible 19 kills on a .241 attack percentage. Lettieri added 11 kills on a disgusting .375 hitting clip, while posting a solo and an assist block.
Sophomore Megan Wise was brilliant in the back row, scooping 29 digs to keep many potential PSU-Altoona kills alive.
Rees responded in tremendous fashion after a forgettable match against FDU-Florham, returning from a -.152 hitting percentage against the Devils to post a single-match season-high in kills against the Lions.
“She's a very good player, very coachable, and just a great kid to work with,” Tobias said. “I'm excited for her future.”
Messiah will partake in the remainder of Homecoming Weekend activities before returning to Commonwealth Conference play Tuesday, when the team travels to Widener University. That match is slated for a 7 p.m. start time.
"We're still a young team and we're still improving,” Tobias said. “Everybody is getting to play and more people are getting opportunities every day. We're still working on serve receive. We're still working on getting up in games and staying up, decreasing dips and letdowns, and keeping focused. We did a better job of playing the ball on the floor and had solid defense. We're definitely not playing for next year, but it's nice to know that we can look towards the future with high hopes.”
