XML Box Score 1 | XML Box Score 2 Haverford, PA – Messiah College dropped two close matches on Saturday, falling 3-2 to Swarthmore and 3-1 to Haverford.
 
Jessica Geib collected her first career triple-double in the Falcons' loss to Swarthmore, collecting 49 assists, 17 digs, and career-high 12 kills. Her play helped the Falcons get off to a strong start against the Garnet as they overcame an early 4-1 deficit to roll off six-straight points to go up 7-1. Later in the first set Geib set up five-straight kills to lead Messiah to a 19-12 advantage.  Geib, Natasha Gibble, and Jordyn Scheib finished the 25-19 win with three consecutive kills.
 
Set two was played closely throughout with Messiah not leading until going on top 12-11. Swarthmore responded with four-straight points but the Falcons rallied again, taking 21-17 and 24-22 leads, respectively, to put themselves in a good position to go up 2-0. But a service error by Geib and a service ace by Swarthmore knotted the game at 24-24. Moments later Messiah again was a point away from a win at 26-25, but Emily Zellers' service error and two kills by Swarthmore gave the Garnet a set win to even the match.
 
Set three was another back-and-forth affair from start to finish. Late in the set a kill by Jane Underman pulled Messiah to within 22-21 but the Falcons saw Swarthmore finish three-straight kills to win and take a 2-1 lead.
 
Now with their backs against the wall, Messiah came up big in the fourth set. They trailed by large margins, including 20-12 and 24-19, before the Falcons' scored seven-straight points to win 26-24. Four different players—Kristen Douglas, Gibble, Alyssa Vorbeck, and Hannah Baumer—collected kills in that streak.
 
Unfortunately for the Falcons, the deciding fifth set did not live up to the billing of the previous four. Swarthmore raced out to an 11-2 lead thanks, in part, to five errors by the Falcons as they went onto a 15-7 decision to win the match 3-2.
 
Douglas and Underman backed up Geib's impressive performance in combining for 31 kills, though Messiah hit just .126 overall.

Against Haverford the Falcons continued to battle, but could not earn a split for the day. After failing to hold any lead past 1-0 in the first set, the Falcons battled back to earn a gritty 25-21 win in the second set. They led 18-17 when Haverford called timeout, a move that preceded four attacking errors by the Fords. Underman and Baumer (two) combined for three kills in that final stretch as Messiah tied the match at 1-1.
 
Momentum did not continue for Messiah, however, as two more back-and-forth sets went in the Fords' favor. In the third set, the teams were knotted at 9-9 before Haverford took a lead for good. in the fourth set an 8-5 lead by the Falcons turned into a 15-9 deficit before Haverford won the match with a 25-19 decision.
 
Geib collected another 38 assists in the match while underman had 16 kills.

The two losses drop Messiah to 16-11 overall. They will return to the court on Wednesday, Oct. 30 when they travel to Elizabethtown College for their final conference match of the regular-season.
 

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