XML Box Score Grantham, PA - The Messiah College volleyball team defeated the St. Mary's College of Md. Seahawks today in an exciting five-set match 3-2, giving
Judi Tobias her 300th career victory.
Messiah was led by the attacking of
Kristen Douglas (18),
Alyssa Vorbeck (12), and
Jordyn Scheib (12), each with career-high numbers in kills.
Emily Zellers was also instrumental to the win, collecting 25 digs, a career high for her as well.
Early on in the match it looked like the Falcons wouldn't be able to get any balls past the blocking of the Seahawks. St. Mary's collected three total blocks in their first nine points to take a 9-3 lead over the Falcons. For the match, St. Mary's had 22 total blocks.
The Falcons eventually came back to tie the set at 13 and the two teams stayed with each other for the remainder of the opening set. However the Seahawks found a 3-0 run to make it 23-20 and finished off set one 25-22.
The teams would keep the even, back-and-forth play throughout the next three sets with alternating 25-23 scores. Starting in set two,
Emily Zellers was subbed in as the libero.
In total, The Falcons collected 65 kills with
Jessica Geib assisting on 54 of them. That number ties Geib's career high, which she set last year on Oct. 11 at Dickinson College. Scheib had the best attacking percentage of the day for the Falcons with a .321, committing only three errors.
In set five, Messiah held the momentum from winning set four and didn't look back after taking the lead 4-3. The Seahawks kept the lead at bay until Messiah set out on a 5-0 run and doubled up on St. Mary's 14-7. With only one point left to go, Geib sent the ball over to
Jane Underman for the final point, and kill, of the match.
"This was really important," said head coach
Judi Tobias about the win. "We talked a lot this week about being intentional on and off the court so this was a good time to get a win.
Although Messiah put away 16 more kills than the Seahawks, they also committed 13 more errors than St. Mary's. The Falcons also held the advantage in digs with 115 against 101. Douglas completed her double-double with 18 kills and 18 digs.
The win snaps the Falcons five-game losing streak and brings their record to 5-5 this season. The loss for the Seahawks is just their second of the season and takes their record to 7-2 overall. Messiah will next face Alvernia University at home on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 7:00 p.m.
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