XML Box Score Owenings Mills, MD - The Messiah Falcons were up against a familiar foe in this year's conference championship game, the Stevenson Mustangs. The Falcons and Mustangs have met in each of the last two Commonwealth Championship games, with the Mustangs winning both of the previous championship meetings.
The Falcons played extremely well throughout the afternoon but their efforts fell just short as Stevenson outlasted the Falcons 3-2 (25-18, 20-25, 18-25, 25-13, 15-13).
The first set began with the Falcons and Mustangs trading points until Stevenson was up 6-4. That's when the Falcons began an 8-2 run. The run was highlighted by
Jane Underman's four kills. Just a few points later, the Falcons led 17-13. They were passing well, getting good attack opportunities, and seemed to be in control of the set. After a Messiah attacking error the Mustangs controlled the remainder of the set, ending the set on a 12-1 run to win by a score of 25-18.
Early in the second set the Mustangs and Falcons each had streaks of five consecutive points. After the Falcons' streak, the teams seeming traded every other point for the middle of the match. With a 17-16 lead, the Falcons looked to put the match away winning the next three points. Stevenson then countered with a three-point streak of their own.
After Messiah called a timeout to regroup, the Falcons finished off the second set on a 5-1 run to claim the second set by a score of 25-20.
The Falcons started the fourth set quickly, building a 8-4 lead. Stevenson then used a 7-4 run to pull within one at 12-11, before the Falcons pulled away and took control of the set. The Falcons ended the set on a 13-7 run, capped off by a kill from
Taylor Hook to claim the third set, 25-18. The Falcons entered the fourth set with the momentum, and leading 2-1.
In the fourth set, the Mustangs took back the momentum, beginning the set with a 7-3 run. Messiah battled back, tying the game at 14-14, before going ahead 20-15. In all the Falcons went on a 12-3 to take the lead. After the Falcons' run the Mustangs countered, winning 10 of the next 13 fiercely contested points to take the fourth set 25-23.
After splitting the first four sets the Mustangs and Falcons headed to a decisive fifth set. Fresh off their fourth set victory the Mustangs jumped out to a 7-2 lead. That lead turned into a 11-6 advantage and things looked grim for Messiah. The Falcons had other plans than to roll over and give the match to the Mustangs. The Falcons won the next four points to pull within one.
Stevenson then won three of the next four and were serving for the match, leading 14-11, but after consecutive attack errors by the Mustangs brought the Falcons back within one at 14-13 a Mustang kill ended the afternoon giving the Mustangs the Commonwealth Championship.
The Falcons' attack was led by
Jane Underman (17 kills)
Kristen Douglas (17 kills) and
Taylor Hook (10 kills).
Brooke Gallagher led the Falcons with 52 assists and
Kristen Douglas (31) and
Emily Zellers (30) collected 30 digs.
The loss is the Falcons third straight to Stevenson in the Commonwealth Championship game, but todays 3-2 defeat was as close as the score would allow.
With the loss the Falcons move to 26-8 on the season. The win improves the Mustangs to 29-5 on the year and by way of the Commonwealth Championship, they collect an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
