Box Score
Glenside, PA – Some clutch points early on and a dominating brand of volleyball later helped Messiah to its third straight Commonwealth Conference win Wednesday night, as the Falcons dealt host Arcadia University a 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-15) loss at the Knights' Kuch Center.
It was all Falcons after Arcadia (6-9, 0-3) forced a tie score of 22-22 in the opening set, as Messiah (13-3, 3-0) served and hit its way to the team's 13th victory in its last 14 matches.
“We really picked our play up following the first set tonight, and I was pleased with how we responded,” said Judi Tobias, Messiah head coach. “Our goal was to come in here and win in three (sets), so we were pleased to accomplish that.”
Tobias' club generated 15 kills in Wednesday's opening stanza – including two in the set's last three points – to come up with the 25-22 win, and then poured it on in the second and third: Messiah hit a collective .417 in the second set and .207 in the third. The latter came with nearly all of the Falcons' starters on the bench.
“Everyone played tonight, and that was a good thing,” Tobias said. “The best part, though, is that there's not much difference (between starters and reserves). These girls get along so well, and they really push each other. The older players have embraced the younger players, and it's truly a team. It makes it so fun to work with them.”
Winning is also enjoyable, and Tobias said the team's cohesiveness is at the forefront of recent play. Ten service aces didn't hurt Wednesday night, as Messiah kept Arcadia from running much of its power offense.
“Arcadia has very good play in the middle, so we wanted to serve them tough so they couldn't run their middles,” Tobias said. “I thought we did a very good job of taking them out of what they wanted to do.”
The Knights hit at just a .149 attack percentage on the evening, a paltry clip compared to Messiah's .301 mark.
Sophomore Lindsay King finished with nine kills on just 18 swings for the Falcons, while classmate Lauren Rees posted eight kills. Freshman Jordyn Scheib had six on a .462 hitting clip, while sophomore Ann Reck had five on a .444 percentage.
Defensively, Messiah was paced by Rees' 11 digs. Freshman Jessica Geib had nine scoops, while Reck and junior libero Megan Wise each had six.
King and junior Brittany Salloum each had four service aces, leading the way for Messiah behind the line.
The Falcons' 3-0 win bettered the team's 3-1 win over Arcadia at the Misericordia University Tri-Match Sept. 11.
“We're getting better, and we continue to work on several things that we know we need to improve on,” Tobias said.
Messiah will combine its annual 'Dig For The Cause' campaign with the inaugural MAC Crossover event Saturday, as the third and fourth seeds from last year's Commonwealth final standings will be paired against the third and fourth seeds from last year's Freedom Conference results in Hitchcock Arena. Fans are encouraged to wear purple and offer pledges to help the program's efforts in supporting the American Cancer Society's “Relay For Life.”
“It's hard to believe we've been doing the 'Dig For The Cause' campaign since 2007, but it's been tremendous,” said Tobias, whose team will wear purple uniforms Saturday. “We're excited for both it and this MAC Crossover, which is an interesting idea.”
Messiah will take on Wilkes College – the fourth seed in last year's Freedom Conference – at 10 a.m. Saturday. Widener University (#4, Commonwealth) will face FDU-Florham (#3, Freedom) at the same time. Messiah will then play FDU-Florham at 1 p.m., while Widener will face Wilkes. All games will take place on neighboring courts in Hitchcock Arena.
Similar match-ups are occurring at various locations throughout the MAC Saturday, with #1 and #2 seeds facing off, along with #5's/#6's and #7's/#8's.
“We'll see how it goes,” Tobias said of the entire MAC Crossover idea. “If they continue it next year, we'd obviously like to be in a different group.”
