Box Scores: Messiah v. Catholic - Messiah v. Scranton - Messiah v. Misericordia - Messiah v. PSU-Berks
Grantham, PA — It may not have been the results that head coach Judi Tobias had hoped for, but Messiah showed plenty of spirit and fight in posting a 2-2 record over the weekend's Messiah Invitational — most likely the club's final contests at home on the year.
Messiah (19-10) opened play with a 0-3 (20-25, 23-25, 20-25) loss to Catholic University Friday night but responded with two straight wins Saturday afternoon, beating both the University of Scranton (25-18, 26-24, 25-14) and Misericordia University (25-12, 25-18, 25-13) by 3-0 scores.
Unfortunately, the Falcons dropped an invite-closing, 3-2 (23-25, 18-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-10) loss to Penn State University-Berks, giving the Nittany Lions their only win in the five-team competition.
“We wanted to go 4-0 this weekend, and we didn't get that done,” Tobias said. “I thought we played very well at times, but at others we didn't look sharp. Afterward, we talked about moving forward. This (invitational) was for nothing more than bragging rights. What we're really concerned with starts next week.”
With a Commonwealth Conference Semi-Final at Lebanon Valley College looming next Wednesday, Tobias and staff made an executive decision to shut down freshman setter Jessica Geib, due to some nagging knee issues.
Lone senior Jessica Gould was entered into the lineup — on a weekend honoring all five programs' seniors, no less — and played spectacularly.
“Jess's play was the highlight of the weekend,” Tobias said. “Jess was recruited as a setter, but was asked to become more of a defensive specialist for us over the years. She worked on getting better in that area and selflessly did whatever was asked of her. All she wanted to do was help the team. Then, this weekend, she's asked to step in and be our setter again and she played just great. It was a fitting end to someone who has carried a great attitude.”
Gould subbed for Geib in the third and final set against Catholic (16-13) Friday night, but by that point the Cardinals had already captured a 2-0 lead. Gould dished out seven assists in the third frame but Messiah only hit a collective .071, as Catholic rolled to the 3-0 win.
No Falcon reached double-figures in kills, while sophomore Lauren Rees and junior Megan Wise paced the team's 63 digs with 16 and 15, respectively.
“We never got our feet under us Friday, and we looked a step slow all night,” Tobias said.
Thankfully, the tempo changed bright and early Saturday, as Messiah made quick work of Scranton (14-17) in a 10 a.m. match and did the same to Misericordia (14-16) immediately thereafter.
Fourteen kills from sophomore Lindsay King paced the Falcons' play against Scranton, as Messiah beat the Royals for the third time in the year. King's 14 terminations came on just 22 swings, a ridiculous .545 attack percentage.
Against Misericordia, it was Gould who looked seamless, dishing out 29 assists to quarterback Messiah to an invite-best .260 team hitting clip. Rees finished with 11 kills on a .258 percentage while King knocked in 10 attacks for points, hitting at .292.
The Falcons overmatched the Cougars in nearly every area, keeping Misericordia's attempts off the floor both at the net and in the back row: King finished with four solo and three assist blocks, while 15 digs from freshman Allison Hill paced 41 scoops overall.
“Playing a team three times is not easy, and I thought we looked very good against Scranton, especially after the way in which we played Friday night,” Tobias said. “It was good to continue that effort against Misericordia. I thought Allison did a very nice job in the back for us and Jess (Gould) was incredible.”
With one final match standing between the squad and a 3-1 record, it was Penn State-Berks (23-8) that broke out of its collective weekend funk to stymie Messiah's efforts. The Nittany Lions used a kill and a service ace to turn a 23-23 tie into a 25-23 finish in the opening set, while a .292 hitting percentage helped the visitors stun the Falcons in the 25-18 second-frame win.
“We talked about not wanting to end this weekend without fighting,” Tobias said after the first two sets were complete. “We weren't happy with how we played. We wanted to dig a little deeper, even though we were tired.”
Messiah did just that.
An assist block from Rees and freshman Jordyn Scheib was followed by a solo rejection from Scheib, and an 18-18 game turned into a 20-18 Falcons' lead. Three Lions' attack errors followed — coupled with a Scheib kill — and Messiah led 24-20. A service ace from Rees ended the stanza, and the Falcons were on the road to recovery.
A fourth set by the same score put them on its door step.
Messiah stayed a minimum of two points ahead of Penn State-Berks down the stretch, again utilizing solid defense at the net to pull away for the 25-20 victory. Messiah's stout defense was exemplified in the final two points of the frame, where a solo block from King and an assist return from King and sophomore Ann Reck concluded things.
Heading to a fifth set for the first time in its last 10 matches, it was the Falcons that looked unfamiliar with such a situation. Penn State-Berks shot out to a 5-1 lead, appearing to run away with the final match being played in Hitchcock Arena.
Without utilizing a timeout, Tobias' group came back, however, winning six straight points to claim a 7-6 lead.
From there, the teams would battle, as a kill from Rees tied the score at 9-9.
And then Penn State-Berks took over.
A kill from sophomore Emily Hall would serve as Messiah's only additional point of the set, as the Lions made use of three Falcons' attack errors to eventually claim the 15-10 win.
King (18 kills, three solo blocks, four assist blocks), Rees (14 kills) and Scheib (12 kills, two solo blocks) paced Messiah's efforts, while Gould came up with a season-high 42 assists. Wise finished with 11 of Messiah's 49 total digs.
As a result of her play, Gould was named to the seven-athlete All-Tournament Team, joining King. Scranton's Katie Neuman and Jenell McFadden, Catholic's Kristina Purall and Claudia Jean and Penn State-Berks' Jerica Detsch rounded off the award winners.
Messiah will now look to get back to its winning ways in the upcoming Commonwealth Conference Tournament, as the team will travel to second-seeded Lebnaon Valley College Wednesday evening. The Dutchmen handed the Falcons a 3-0 defeat in regular-season play. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
