Messiah v. Philadelphia Biblical Box Score - Messiah v. Scranton Box Score
Langhorne, PA — Participating in Saturday's Philadelphia Biblical University Tri-Match wasn't just an opportunity to play in two more matches for the Messiah volleyball team. It was a mental exercise.
Looking to beat the host Crimson eagles for the first time in three years and hoping to hand the University of Scranton a loss for the second time of the season, the Falcons succeeded in both, beating PBU 3-1 (25-13, 25-11, 26-28, 25-18) and Scranton 3-2 (25-18, 20-25, 25-13, 26-28, 15-9) at Philadelphia Biblical's Mason Activity Center.
The wins pushed Messiah to a 12-3 record overall — the team winning 12 of its last 13 matches.
“It was a good day overall for us,” said Judi Tobias, Messiah head coach. “We had a couple of let downs, but we were focused on playing good volleyball and coming away with two wins. It was good to get that done.”
Tobias' club needed to displace recent memories of Philadelphia Biblical (6-9), as the Crimson Eagles handed Messiah a 3-2 loss in last year's home opener and a 3-1 defeat in Langhorne, Pa. the season prior.
Saturday, however, the Falcons made relatively quick work of the hosts, hitting at an impressive .357 clip in the first set and .394 in the second to cruise to 25-13 and 25-11 wins.
Following some substitutions in the third, Messiah came out on the wrong end of a 28-26 decision. But, Tobias stuck with her troops, and the Falcons responded, taking the fourth set by a 25-18 score — and hitting a collective .267.
“We won the sets we should have won and we lost the set we should have lost,” said Tobias, whose team hit at -.028 during its loss. “We hit in the negative (in the fourth), and we can't do that. We made some subs, but came back with the same people in the fourth and played better.”
Sophomores Lauren Rees and Lindsay King paced the team's offense, charting 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Junior Emily Hall placed 11 attacks for points on a team-leading .381 hitting percentage, while King and freshman Jordyn Scheib each provided three solo blocks.
Freshman Jessica Geib ran the offense effectively, posting 37 assists, while Rees and Geib each finished with 13 digs.
“PBU is very scrappy and they work very hard to keep the ball off the floor,” Tobias said. “We have a bit more height than they do, and we were able to utilize our middles well.”
In the afternoon against Scranton (8-7), the Falcons were looking for an adequate bookend to its 3-1 win over the Lady Royals in the Gettysburg College Battlefield Classic on Sept. 4. Following a couple hiccups, the squad got it.
In splitting the first four sets, the Falcons hit at right around the .100 mark, averaging eight kills per game.
That was until the team exploded for a .350 percentage in the fifth and final stanza, posting nine kills in the shortened frame.
Reees again paced the team's offense with 13 kills, while King finished with 10. Scheib notched eight kills on an incredible .421 attack percentage.
“Psychologically speaking, it's not always the easiest to play a team for the second time in a season,” Tobias said. “Basketball and other sports do it a lot, but it doesn't happen that often in volleyball. Scranton knew us a little bit better. They're really young and they moved some of their players into different positions, and it took us awhile to adjust. What we tried to focus on was our belief that we beat them once, we can beat them again. Mentally, it can be a little tough, but we got through it.”
Rees finished with a game-high 19 digs against Scranton, while junior libero Megan Wise scooped up 18 potential Lady Royals' points. Scheib registered an incredible 10 block assists, while both Rees and King each finished with three solo rejections.
“Scranton is improving, but I think we've improved at roughly the same rate,” Tobias said. “We'll actually see them again (at the Messiah Invitational on Oct. 30), and we'll try to go into that match with a similar mentality. Can we beat them in three? Being confident and knowing that we've already beaten them, that we can do it, our objective is to have that kind of confidence going in.”
Messiah will look to return its collective assurance to the Commonwealth Conference slate next, as the team will travel to Arcadia University Wednesday. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
