Box Score
Grantham, PA — If Tuesday night was any indication, Messiah can look back on last Wednesday's 3-0 loss at Lebanon Valley College as nothing more than an aberration.
With yet another week-long layoff preceding, the Falcons came up with perhaps their finest showing of the season, cruising past Commonwealth Conference foe Widener University by a 3-1 (25-16, 25-21, 26-28, 25-13) score — clinching a berth in the upcoming league tournament in the process.
Sophomore Lindsay King charted a career-best 21 kills to lead Messiah (15-6, 4-2) to a season-high 63 kills overall, as the hosts played inspired volleyball throughout.
“This was the type of volleyball I've been expecting us to play,” said Messiah head coach Judi Tobias. “We've been really practicing well and have generally been improving over the last few weeks. We competed really well in the first set at Lebanon Valley (last week), but then we fell apart. I think tonight was much more indicative of how we've been playing.”
Things started off well for Tobias' club from the start, as Messiah raced off to a 13-7 lead over Widener (16-11, 4-2) and kept up a high level of play until the match's conclusion. A service ace from sophomore Lauren Rees capped an impressive, 25-16 first-set win, while two kills from classmate Emily Hall helped turn a 21-20 lead late in the second into a 25-21 victory.
Even in defeat, the Falcons were competitive, as the 26-28 third-set loss came via a match-high 11 kills from the Pride: After a pair of attack errors made it a 26-26 ballgame, Widener utilized a pair of those kills to close out the session.
It put Messiah in a familiar situation.
Tobias was ecstatic with how her team responded.
Holding a narrow, 11-10 lead in the fourth, the Falcons erupted to score eight consecutive points, claiming a 19-10 lead on another hard swing from Rees. A pair of Widener timeouts could not slow the onslaught, as Rees and King each slammed two kills and sophomore Ann Reck notched two service aces to help Messiah to its largest lead of the night.
A kill from the Pride's Angela DiMaria broke up the scoring streak, but only momentarily. Rees followed two Widener miscues with two more kills and King followed with another service ace, and the Falcons were in complete control with a 23-12 lead.
“We served really tough tonight, and that was our goal,” Tobias said of her team's nine service aces. “If you can make an opposing team serve from the attack line, you're really in a good place. If you can dominate that part of the game, you can dominate the net, too.”
Messiah did just that, hitting at a collective .232 attack percentage en route to the aforementioned 63 kills. King needed just 34 swings to chart a new career best — hitting a remarkable .500 on the night — while Rees wasn't far behind with 17 attacks for points. Hall finished with 11 kills, including a pair of fourth set slams that had Brubaker Auditorium rocking.
“I had some people come up to me afterward and say, 'Gosh, it's a shame you couldn't have beaten them in three (sets),'” Tobias said. “But actually, I was thrilled with how we played in the fourth. We had come off a hard fight in the third, played well, and came up just short. I think the fourth set spoke more to me than if we had won that third set. For us to come back and dominate, it showed the growing maturity of this team.”
Junior Megan Wise played another solid game in the back row for the Falcons, finishing with an evening-high 19 digs. Rees scooped 18, while freshman Jessica Geib recovered 14 to go with 49 assists.
“We talked a lot about the LVC match, the fact that we were off (from competition) for a week beforehand, and the fact that we had another off weekend before tonight's match,” Tobias said. “I told them (after the LVC loss) that we absolutely needed this match against Widener. Did that put some pressure on us? Sure. But pressure is not a bad thing. We wanted a little bit of self-imposed pressure, and then we wanted the attitude of, 'Okay, let's do something with it.' I thought we responded really well tonight.”
With just one Commonwealth Conference regular-season match remaining, Messiah can now finish no worse than the league's fourth seed, while the team controls its own destiny for a possible third-place finish.
Unlike the last two weeks, the Falcons will not have to wait long for their next competition, however, as the team will travel to St. Mary's City over the weekend to play in three matches: The team will take on the host Seahawks in straight-up play Friday night, before facing Lancaster Bible College and Frostburg State University Saturday at St. Mary's ARC Arena.
“We've got some tough matches this weekend against very good teams,” Tobias said. “We feel like we're back on the up swing after two good weeks of practice and solid volleyball in two of our last three matches. We're looking forward to some good tests this weekend.”
Messiah will open play against St. Mary's at 6 p.m. Friday.
