Marymount Box Score | PSU Harrisburg Box Score | Methodist Box Score
Grantham, PA — Messiah was just a single point away from sweeping Methodist University and closing out its only quad match of the season with a perfect 3-0 record Saturday.
It's incredible what can happen after three full matches of volleyball in under six hours, however.
Methodist closed with a late rally to stun the Falcons in an absolutely heartbreaking 2-3 (25-15, 25-20, 26-24, 25-17, 15-12) decision, providing the hosts with their only defeat on the day: The Falcons opened play with a 3-1 (16-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-12) win over Marymount University, and followed with a 3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-17) dismantling of Penn State University Harrisburg, surging forward with momentum heading into the finale against the Monarchs.
That momentum continued through the first two sets, as the Falcons held a commanding 2-0 lead.
But that's when things went south, for the only time of the day.
“We lost that match in the third (set),” said Judi Tobias, Messiah head coach. “For some reason, we seemed to relax. Maybe we didn't think Methodist had it in them to come back and win (being down 2-0), but they proved they did.
“We can take some valuable lessons from this loss, no doubt.”
Saturday's final tilt seemed poised to fall in line with the rest of the day's results, as Messiah (3-6) coasted by the Monarchs with little resistance in the first two stanzas, taking a 10-point win in the first and a five-point win in the second (leading by an 18-10 score in that stanza).
Methodist (6-0) was able to hang on through a back-and-forth third set, however, turning a 23-23 game into a 26-24 decision via a kill and a pair of Messiah errors.
That opened the door for a decisive 25-17 Methodist win in the fourth, setting up the unexpected fifth set decider.
“We set two goals heading into the fifth set,” Tobias said. “The first goal was to be the first team to eight points. The second was to be the first team to 15 points. We achieved one of those goals, but unfortunately for us, it wasn't the one that we wanted.”
Tobias' club led by a 10-8 count when the teams switched sides, but a kill from the Monarchs' Jalesty Washington and an ensuing Falcons attack error knotted things up a 10-10.
Following a kill from freshman Lauren Rees, the Monarchs pounded three straight attacks for points, going up by a 14-11 count.
Though Rees would slam another attack into the ground to pull within a 14-12 score, it was simply too little, too late. Methodist finished things off with a Messiah team error, putting the only damper on the day for the Falcons.
“We still need to work on bring consistent,” Tobias said. “We also need to bring some more variety to our offense. We played well but Methodist played better. They really turned it on, especially when it counted. That was a pretty good match to be a part of, though. Hopefully it will help us down the road.”
Consistency wasn't a problem for the Falcons in the day's first two contests, as Tobias' club easily defeated Marymount (2-3) 3-1 despite losing the first set by nine points. A 25-19 second set win was followed by a 25-23 victory in the third, while the Falcons closed out the fourth set with a match-leading .33 attack percentage, leading to the decisive 25-12 victory.
Rees spearheaded that number with a .308 attack percentage against the Saints, finishing with a day-high 17 kills. Sophomore Mega Wise was brilliant in the back row, charting a Saturday-best 21 digs.
“We're starting to get connected and play better as an overall team,” Tobias said. “We weren't doing this well before, but now we're jelling and it's showing on the scoreboard.”
Following a brief lunch break, the Falcons moved on to their second match, where they dominated Penn State Harrisburg (4-3), hitting .274 for the match. Tight wins helped Messiah to a 2-0 lead, and a demoralized Lions squad was simply no match in the third.
Freshman Ann Reck led the team with 11 kills and a .333 attack percentage in the day's second tilt, while sophomore Meredith Siebert ran the offense with efficiency (20 assists, one ball handling error). Sophomores Emily Hall and Brynn Lettieri each recorded two assist blocks to pace the defense up front.
“(The match against Penn State Harrisburg) was a good opportunity to work on getting our hitters to hit some different shots,” Tobias said. “It enabled us to try some new people in actual game situations, competing against an opponent instead of in practice against each other.”
And while the loss to Methodist prevented what could have been a perfect day for the Falcons, Tobias' squad still showed poise in improving its season mark to 3-6.
“I think today helped us realize that, hey, we can actually play together,” Tobias said. “I just told the team to be as aggressive as possible.”
Messiah will remain idle until Thursday, when the team opens MAC Commonwealth play at Albright College. That match is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
