Box Score
Grantham, PA — This time, there would be no letdown.
Playing in Brubaker Auditorium for the first time since a heartbreaking 2-3 loss to York College, Messiah capitalized on deft passing and key hitting to claim a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-23) win over visiting Dickinson College, the team's fourth consecutive victory.
In contrast to the season-opening defeat to York, the Falcons effectively fought off the third-set jitters — though they were still present. Against the Spartans, Messiah dropped 18-25, 15-25 and 10-15 frames after being up by a 2-0 count.
Tuesday against Dickinson, the stage was eerily similar: The Falcons hit at a .200 clip to take the first set by four points, then knocked out eight kills in the second for a five-point margin of victory.
The third frame wasn't quite as easy.
Dickinson (0-4) jumped out to a 17-10 lead and nearly pulled within a 2-1 difference, but some timely hitting from sophomore Lauren Rees and some ill-timed errors from the Red Devils' side pulled things closer. Even a Messiah substitution snafu wasn't enough to derail the host's effort, as junior Cassy Diamond marked the 25-23 win with an emphatic slam down the line — bringing the nearly 200 in attendance to their collective feet.
“It's clear that we need to continue to work on holding our intensity,” said Judi Tobias, Messiah head coach, afterward. “Any time we get to a third set, we become too relaxed. We recognize it, but we just haven't mastered it yet. To a degree, it can be somewhat expected to have these issues early in the season, but we know we have to continue to work on it.”
Rees was a big reason Messiah (4-2) pulled out of a potential funk in Tuesday's final frame, generating five of her 11 kills and finishing with a remarkable .321 attack percentage in 28 attempts.
Sophomore Lindsay King was equally as impressive, hitting at a .429 clip while smashing half of her 14 attacks for points.
Tobias said it was the team's passing that allowed those numbers to come to fruition, however, as the squad posted just six serve reception errors, repeatedly putting the ball in an ideal place for freshman setter Jessica Geib.
“(Good passing) is just critical,” Tobias said. “It allows you to do so much more offensively, and that was the case tonight. We ran a lot of different things in an effort to keep Dickinson off-balance, and I thought Jessica did a great job.”
Geib finished with a match-high 29 assists, while the precision passing came from nearly everyone: Senior libero Megan Wise finished with 19 digs in the back row, while junior Lauren Lathrop had 10. Rees scooped six.
Messiah's defense was not limited to beyond the net, as freshman Jordyn Scheib collected three solo blocks and King two.
“After we got up 2-0, there was no question that we really wanted to win the third,” Tobias said. “We've been working on playing to win, not playing not to lose. There's a big difference there, and this sport can really bring it out.”
Messiah will not have much time to prepare for its next opportunity, as the team will travel to nearby Penn State University Harrisburg for a match Thursday. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
