Grantham, PA – Messiah College women's volleyball defeated both Misericordia and DeSales on Saturday to sweep the annual MAC Crossover. The Falcons dropped the first game to each opponent before rattling off three-straight wins to seal the matches.
 
Jane Underman finished the day with 30 total kills while Brooke Gallagher collected 76 assists across the two decisions. Emily Zellers also impressed with 40 digs, including a career-best 26 digs in the win over DeSales.
 
Game One, 3-1 (21-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-19) over Misericordia
 
The Falcons and Cougars opened the match with a tight battle in the first set. The Falcons trailed 19-16, but rallied to even the score at 20-20 on a kill by Hannah Baumer. But Misericordia responded to score five of the next six points, including back-to-back errors by Kristen Douglas that sealed the set.
 
Messiah responded in loud fashion in the next set, turning a 7-4 lead into a 15-6 advantage in a matter of minutes. The road the momentum to a 25-16 win, and didn't look back from there. In the third set they again used a big run, this one to turn a 5-5 game into a 12-6 lead; the Falcon went on to win 25-19.
 
In the fourth set the Falcons were tied 5-5 with the Cougars before Jane Underman's three kills ignited a 9-2 run that put Messiah in control. The Falcons led by as many as 10 points in the set en route to the win.

Underman (17) and Hannah Baumer (10) combined for 27 kills, while four Falcons collected double-digit digs led by Zellers' 14.
 
Game Two, 3-1 (18-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-18) over DeSales
 
Like they did against Misericordia, Messiah dropped their first game before winning the rest.
 
The pivotal third set was especially close, as Messiah overcame deficits of 9-5, 11-7, and 13-9 to win. The biggest stretch for the Falcons came when they were trailing 16-13 and scored seven of nine points to take a 20-18 lead. Taylor Hook, Kristen Douglas, and Hayley Cowoski each collected kills over that spread.
 
Still, the set was tied 23-23 before an attacking error by the Bulldogs setup a kill by Kristen Douglas that put Messiah up 2-1.
 
The Falcons rode that third-set momentum to a big lead in the fourth set, going up 7-1. The Bulldogs fought back to draw within 15-13, but Messiah was too much as Brooke Gallagher, Hannah Baumer, Taylor Hook, and Kristen Douglas each collected kills in a final 5-1 run that sealed both the win and sweep.
 
Gallagher finished with 40 assists in the match while Douglas had a team-high 14 kills. Zellers collected her aforementioned career-best 26 digs to lead five different Falcons with at least 15 digs.
 
The Falcons will next play on Wednesday, Oct. 8 when they host Lycoming College in a Commonwealth match.