Owings Mills, MD - The Stevenson Mustangs defeated the Messiah Falcons in the MAC Commonwealth Championship game for the fourth straight season 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22). Messiah battled out of a 2-0 deficit to force a fourth set. In the fourth set with the score tied 22-22, the Mustangs won the final three points to take the match.

Kristen Douglas led the Falcons with 15 kills and Jane Underman added 13 kills and in the loss.

Annika Schwartz led the Mustangs with 32 kills in the match and was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
 
The beginning of the first set was level pegging, but with the scored tied 4-4 the Mustangs went on a 12-4 run to take a commanding 16-8 lead. Highlighting this run was four kills by Schwartz for the Mustangs. Messiah battled back and closed the gap to 21-16, but Stevenson finished the set with a 4-1 run capped off with a kill by Kelsey Stave.
 
The second set was a back and forth battle. Much like the first set Messiah and Stevenson were level through the first 16 points. With the scored tied 8-8, the Mustangs won three straight points to gain an 11-8 advantage. After the short Mustang run Stevenson and Messiah traded points for the remainder of the half. For the remainder of the half Messiah could not pull any closer than a two-point deficit. Messiah trailed by two at 21-19 but Stevenson rattled off four of the final six points to claim a 25-21 set victory.
 
With the Falcons needing a victory in the third set to keep their conference championship chances alive, Messiah did just that claiming the third set by a 25-22 final score. The third set was a closely contested battle from the start, but unlike the first two sets the Falcons held control. The set was tied at multiple points throughout the set but Messiah never trailed in the set. The Falcons built their largest lead late in the set with a 24-19 lead. The Mustangs closed the gap to 24-22 but a kill by Kristen Douglas ended the Mustang rally and keep the Falcons alive.
 
Needing another victory in the fourth set Messiah fought and clawed their way throughout the set. The Mustangs jumped out to a 10-5 lead and held that cushion throughout the majority of the set. With Messiah trailing 14-20, they began to mount a comeback. The Falcons won eight of the next 10 points to tie the game at 22-22. Kristen Douglas highlighted the run for the Falcons with four kills, three of which came in a row to bring the game square. After the lone run to tie the game the Mustangs came storming back to win the final three points and take the set by a score of 25-22 and claim the match 3-1.
 
With the loos, the Falcons have now fallen in each of the last five MAC Commonwealth Championship games, including losses to Stevenson in each of the last four.
 
In the match, Brooke Gallagher totaled 44 assists and Hannah Baumer added nine kills to the double-digit marks by Douglas (15) and Underman (13).
 
The match may have been Judi Tobias' final match on the sideline for the Falcons. Tobias, in her final season, and the Falcons will see if they are selected as an at-large team to the NCAA tournament. Information about Monday's selection show will be announced on GoMessiah.com on Sunday night.