Messiah v. Arcadia Box Sxore - Messiah v. Misericordia Box Score
Dallas, PA — When the Messiah volleyball team arrived at Misericordia University's Anderson Sports-Health Center Saturday morning, the host Cougars and Arcadia University were in the early stages of what would become a five-set marathon.
The extended scouting report served the Falcons well.
Misericordia may have dealt the Knights a 3-2 defeat in the tri-match opener, but neither team could hang with a well-prepared Messiah squad, as the Falcons beat Arcadia 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 20-25, 25-18) and Misericordia 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-17) to rattle off its sixth and seventh consecutive victories.
“It helped us to see both (Arcadia and Misericordia) in a long, competitive match like they had,” said Judi Tobias, Messiah head coach. “We were able to develop a game plan against both teams, and I thought our girls did a good job of executing it once we stepped on the court.”
Messiah's game plan was simple and effective: Serve the ball hard and well, and in turn, take away both Misericordia's and Arcadia's game plan.
Opening the day against the Knights, Messiah (7-2) did just that, recording 11 service aces while generally making the first pass difficult on Arcadia (2-3). As a result, Tobias' squad was able to run their offense effectively, hitting in the positive in all but the third set, a -.026 attack percentage hiccup that helped to the only lost set of the entire day.
“We're still working on a lot of different things, and there's no question that focusing on the third set of matches is at the top of our list,” Tobias said. “The third set is always a key, no matter if the score is 2-0 or 1-1. If you win the first two sets, you can get a little overconfident in the third, and we've had the tendency to do that this year.”
Tobias attributed a slight mental lapse to Saturday's 25-20 third-set defeat to the Knights — a result that was sandwiched between three results in which Messiah kept Arcadia scoring in the teens.
Sophomore Lauren Rees paced the Falcons' attack with 11 kills, but classmate Lindsay King was the most efficient, generating seven kills in 14 swings for a .429 attacking clip.
Senior Megan Wise scooped 19 digs from her libero spot, while junior Lauren Lathrop finished with 10. Rees, King and junior Brittany Salloum each finished with three service aces.
“We didn't feel like we should have lost that third set, but Arcadia stepped up their play and we didn't match them,” Tobias said. “We did do a good job of taking away their middle (hitters), and Arcadia goes 5-10 and six feet there. We served hard all match, but we lost our focus a little bit in the third. Again, we're working on that.”
Focus was not a concern in Saturday's final match of the day, as Messiah rolled past Misericordia (4-1) in dominant fashion. Facing another team attempting to utilize its middle hitters effectively, the Falcons doled out a total 21 blocks, charting 10 solo rejections and 22 block assists.
“Misericorida has a specific play they like to go to, and I thought we did a very good job of taking that away from them,” Tobias said. “Like Arcadia, we served extremely tough and made it hard for them to get into what they wanted to do.”
King provided another effective match on the attack, finishing with six kills in just 16 attempts — a .312 hitting clip. Rees provided nine kills while sophomore Emily Hall and freshman Megan Myers each had five.
Wise again was solid in the back row, finishing with 21 digs, while freshman setter Jessica Geib finished the day with no ball handling errors and a total 54 assists. Freshman Jordyn Scheib had five solo and eight assist blocks in the day's finale against Misericordia, while King finished with three solo and three assist send-backs.
“Lindsay had a great day all around,” Tobias said. “Jess Geib was a standout again, and she will continue to be. I'm happy with the way we're playing. I think we're getting better each time out, and that's important.”
Messiah will look to add to its winning streak as the most important part of the season commences Wednesday. The Falcons open Commonwealth Conference play against Albright College in Brubaker Auditorium. Match time is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday.
