Box Score
Reading, PA — For the first time under current format of the Commonwealth Conference, Messiah opened league play by winning their first match, handing host Albright College a 3-1 (16-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23) defeat at the Lions' Bollman Center Wednesday night.
It was a crucial win for a multitude of reasons for the squad, as the Falcons helped ease the sting of a disheartening 2-3 loss to Methodist University in their last appearance.
That, and conference wins can never be overestimated.
“We were pleased to win our first conference match to get the bugs of that behind us,” said Judi Tobias, Messiah head coach. “Conference matches are really important and always carry that little extra punch to them. You have to win your conference to get into the NCAA playoffs and that's our goal. It's definitely nice to start with a victory. We haven't won our first conference game for a few years. When you lose, you're scrambling to catch up for the rest of the season. I hate that feeling. I like the security of winning.”
That security was hard to come by early in Wednesday's match, as Messiah (4-6, 1-0) was solidly defeated 25-16 in the first set. Tobias' team registered an attack percentage of .000 (five kills to five errors), compared to a .304 clip for Albright (2-6, 0-1).
Tobias said she knew her team had to put the first set behind them and play to the best of their ability if they wanted to walk away victorious.
“We were playing pretty sluggish and we were better than what he had first demonstrated,” she said. “We paid more attention to things like fundamentals and tried to get more focused. We missed some serves in the first set and we knew we had to fix this.”
The Falcons rebounded impressively, winning by consecutive 25-20 scores, and closing out the match with a dramatic 25-23 victory. Messiah attacked at a .206 average over the final three sets, improving their overall clip to .169 on the evening.
Frehsman Lauren Rees led the attack with a match-high 15 kills on a .163 attack percentage. Sophomore Brynn Lettieri generated six kills on a .235 clip, while classmate Emily Hall managed five kills on just eight swings — a team-leading .500 hitting percentage.
Sophoomore Lauren Lathrop paced Messiah's back row defense with 10 digs, while Lettieri posted two solo and five assist blocks at the net.
“We're always going to be working on fundamentals but most of our players are at the point where they're refining their fundamental skills,” Tobias said. “We're always working on blocking, passing, setting and serving, but we're showing more confidence. We have displayed a little more calmness in our playing. We have more ability to focus intensely on getting the job done."
That focus has helped the Falcons to somewhat of a hot streak: After starting the season 1-5, the Falcons have won three of four matches to climb within two games of .500.
Messiah will have a chance to get over that mark this weekend, as the team travels to Susquehanna University for a tri-match Friday evening. The Falcons will face off against the host Crusaders at 5 p.m., then match up with Moravian College at 7 p.m.
