Pittsburgh, PA - The Messiah women's volleyball bounced back in their last match of the Carnegie Mellon tournament defeating Rochester Institute of Technology in a 3-0 sweep (25-16, 25-9, 25-23). Jane Underman led the team with 11 kills and Kristen Douglas added eight of her own. Defensively Messiah finished with nine team blocks and Emily Zellers recorded 10 digs. Brooke Gallagher dished out 26 assists in the winning effort. The Falcons improve to 22-6 on the season.

Match One: Messiah 3, Elizabethtown 0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-21)
The Messiah women's volleyball team crushed Elizabethtown (25-9, 25-14, 25-21) in their first match of the Carnegie Mellon tournament this evening. Hannah Baumer led the team with eight kills while Jane Underman and Mary Underman added seven. Emily Zellers recorded 11 digs and Brooke Gallagher dished out 37 assists and finished with 10 digs in the win. The Falcons improve to 21-4 on the season and will play Carnegie Mellon later tonight at 8:00 p.m.

Messiah dominated the first set over Elizabethtown tallying more kills (14-8), had a higher attacker percentage with .464, and committed just one error.

The Falcons scored seven-straight points off four Bluejay errors, and kills from Kristen Douglas and Hannah Baumer to take an early 7-2 lead. Not long after with the score 8-4 in favor of Messiah they tallied five unanswered points to increase the lead 13-4. In the scoring run Taylor Hook hammered down two kills and Jane Underman had a kill.

Messiah stayed in control the remainder of the first set and holding the advantage 21-9 they scored four-straight points off kills from Taylor Hook and Kristen Douglas, an Elizabethtown error, and service ace by Jessica Zellers to win 25-9.
 
In the second set the Falcons kept up their strong play finishing with 14 kills, a .343 attack percentage, and only committed two errors.
 
Messiah jumped to quick 4-1 lead receiving two kills from Hannah Baumer, one from Mary Underman, and Elizabethtown committed one error in the scoring run. Points were traded but the Falcons found an opportunity with the score 8-6 in their favor they tallied five-straight points to push the lead 13-6. Taylor Hook had two service aces and Jane Underman and Mary Underman each had kills in the run.
 
Later with the Falcons leading 16-10 a kill from Hannah Baumer, service ace from Emily Zellers, and two Bluejay errors extended their lead 20-10. Elizabethtown tallied some points but the Falcons were too much a with the score 24-14 a final kill from Brooke Gallagher sealed the set two victory 25-14.
 
The Falcons didn't play as sharp in the third set but played well enough tallying 14 kills to take the third and final set 25-21.
 
Messiah found themselves trailing early 6-4 but a kill from Kristen Douglas and error by Elizabethtown would tie the game at 6. Later with the score tied at 10, Kristen Douglas hammered down another kill and the Bluejays committed an error giving the Falcons their first lead of the set 12-10.
 
Not long after they tallied three-straight points off two kills from Braedyn Gallagher and an Elizabethtown error to widen the gap 15-11. The Bluejays responded and kept chipping away but the Falcons were able to keep a steady lead the rest of the set. With the score 22-20 Messiah scored two points off a kill from Hook and Elizabethtown error to lead 24-20.
 
The Bluejays tallied a point but the final kill from Braedyn Gallagher gave Messiah the set and match win.

Match Two: Messiah 1, Carnegie Mellon 3 (26-24, 21-25, 20-25, 15-25)
In the nightcap for Messiah they were defeated by Carnegie Mellon 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 20-25, 15-25). Jane Underman led the team with 15 kills while also recording 15 digs, and Mary Underman tallied 11. Emily Zellers finished with 17 digs and Danielle Weaver had 14 respectively. Brooke Gallagher dished out 40 assists. The Falcons fall to 21-5 on the season with tonight's loss.

The first set was very competitive and finished in thrilling fashion with Messiah winning 26-24. They finished with 17 kills in set one.

Messiah tallied two points off a kill from Hannah Baumer and one by Kristen Douglas to hold an early 5-4 lead but the Tartans answered back scoring three-straight points to take the lead 7-4.
 
The Falcons found themselves trailing most of the way through the first part of set one but a pivotal scoring run got them back in the game. Losing 15-12, they tallied four unanswered points to take the lead 16-15. Mary Underman and Kristen Douglas each had kills in that run.
 
Later Messiah again was down 21-18 but kept fighting and scoring four-straight points off kills from Jane Underman and Mary Underman, and two Tartan errors to regain the lead 22-21. The Falcons were one point away from set win leading 24-22 but the Tartans tallied two points to tie it at 24. However, Messiah scored the final two set points off kills by Hannah Baumer and Mary Underman sealing the set one victory.
 
The second set was similar to the first with very competitive play and points traded back-and-forth. Messiah was trailing early 7-4 but utilized an error by Carnegie Mellon, kill from Jane Underman, and block assist by Taylor Hook and Jane Underman to tie the game at seven.
 
Later with Carnegie Mellon leading 12-11 they tallied four-straight points to extend their lead 16-11. Messiah responded with a kill from Kristen Douglas but moments later the Tartans scored three points to maintain a comfortable lead 19-12.
 
With the Falcons trailing 23-16 they made a late run scoring four-straight points off kills by Mary Underman, Brooke Gallagher, and Kristen Douglas, and a Tartan error to pull with in three 23-20. However, it wasn't enough as Carnegie Mellon went on to win the set 25-21.
 
The third set was yet again an intense one and Messiah trailed 6-4 early but tallied three-straight points to pull ahead 7-6. However, Carnegie Mellon went on a huge scoring run tallying eight-straight points to widen the gap 14-7.
 
The Falcons responded with four points of their own on two Tartan errors, an ace by Taylor Hook, and Jane Underman kill to cut the lead 14-11. Later Messiah held close losing 18-15 but Carnegie Mellon went on another run scoring four-straight to pull ahead 22-15.
 
Later Messiah tallied two-straight points off a kill by Braedyn Gallagher and a block assist by Taylor Hook and Brooke Gallagher to pull within three 23-20. However, Carnegie Mellon scored the final two points off two kills to win set three 25-20.
 
Messiah struggled in the fourth set to find an offensive flow and in the end was defeated by Carnegie Mellon 25-15 and 3-1 in the match.
 
The Falcons fell behind early 6-1 before Jane Underman recorded a kill ending the scoring run. On the next play a service error by the Falcons started a four-point run for the Tartans extending their lead 10-2.
 
Carnegie Mellon held a double digit lead for most of the set but with Messiah trailing 17-5 they scored four unanswered points off kills by Taylor Hook, Jane Underman, a service ace from Danielle Weaver, and Tartan error to cut the lead 17-8.
 
Later with the Falcons losing 22-13 they tallied two points to pull within seven but it wasn't enough as Carnegie Mellon hammered down three-straight kills to win the fourth set and match.
 
The Falcons will be back in action tomorrow as they take on day two of the Carnegie Mellon Tournament. They begin the day with a match against Case Western Reserve University at 11:00 a.m. and finish the day with Rochester Institute of Technology at 1:00 p.m.

Match Three: Messiah 0, Case Western Reserve 3
The Messiah women's volleyball team was swept 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-19) by Case Western Reserve in their first match of the day. Braedyn Gallagher led the team with nine kills while Kristen Douglash, Taylor Hook, and Jane Underman each had six. Emily Zellers recorded a  season-high 21 digs and Brooke Gallagher finished with 28 assists. The Falcons fall to 21-6 overrall with the loss and will finish the day with a match against Rochester Institute of Technology at 1:00 p.m

In the first set of play Messiah finished with 15 kills but committed eight errors. They found themselves trailing early to Case Western 5-2 but kills by Kristen Douglas, Hannah Baumer, and a Spartan error tied it at five. The Spartans responded by tallying seven-straight points off five Falcon errors and two kills to take the lead 12-5.

Messiah answered with three points of their own off kills by Braedyn Gallagher, Taylor Hook, and a service ace from Jessica Zellers to cut the lead 12-8. Case Western held a steady lead for most of the set but Messiah kept battling and trailing 20-16 they tallied two kills, recorded a service ace, and the Spartans committed an error to tie the game at 20.

The Spartans held the advantage 24-21, one point away from set victory, but the Falcons tallied two points off a kill by Jane Underman and service ace from Taylor Hook, however, on the next play a kill from Kayla Pfaff gave Case Western the set one win 25-23.

Messiah struggled offensively in the second set and losing 7-4 early, Case Western tallied four-straight points to widen the gap 11-4. Later with the Falcons trailing 12-6 they scored three points off a Spartan error, service ace by Brooke Gallagher, and kill from Jane Underman to cut the lead 12-9.

The Falcons kept chipping away to stay close but the Spartans utilized a late-set scoring run to win set two. With the score 18-13 in favor of Case Western they tallied seven consecutive points to win 25-13.

Messiah played steady in the third set but Case Western continued it's dominance and went on to with the third and final set 25-21. The Falcons held a slight edge 6-5 early but the Spartan scored three-straight points to go up 8-6. Braedyn Gallagher hammered down a kill on the next play to stop the scoring run but Case Western answered with two points of their own.

Points were traded back-and-forth but with the score 17-16 in favor of Case Western they tallied four unanswered points to extend their lead 21-16. Trailing 24-17 Messiah made a late run off three Case Western errors and a kill from Braedyn Gallagher to pull within three 24-21 but on the next play the Spartans recorded a kill givng them the set three and match win.
 
Match Four: Messiah 3, Rochester Institue of Technology 0 (25-16, 25-9, 25-23)
In the first set of play Messiah tallied 10 kills, finished with a .308 attack percentage, and committed just two errors. 
 
Messiah trailed early 12-8 but a kill by Jane Underman and an attack error pulled them within two 12-10. Later with the Falcons down 14-12 a kill from Mary Underman and a Tiger error tied it at 14.
 
RIT tallied a point but the Messiah went on an eight-point scoring run for their first lead of the game 22-15. Taylor Hook hammered down two kills, Kristen Douglas had a kill, and Brooke Gallagher with the help of Hook recorded a block assist.
 
Not long after with Messiah ahead 22-16 they tallied the final three set points off two RIT errors and a service ace by Danielle Weaver to secure the set one win 25-16.
 
Messiah dominated in the second set winning by a score of 25-9. Leading early 3-2 the Falcons scored four-straight points off a kill by Mary Underman, one from Hannah Baumer, a Tiger error, and service ace from Emily Zellers to extend the lead 7-2.
 
Later with the Falcons holding a 9-5 advantage they tallied five consecutive points to go up 14-5. In that scoring run Kristen Douglas and Brooke Gallagher each had kills while Danielle Weaver recorded a service ace.
 
Moments later Messiah went on their biggest scoring run of the set punching out eight unanswered points to lead 22-6. RIT tallied a couple points but with the score 24-9 a final kill from Jane Underman earned Messiah the set two win.
 
In the third set the Falcons finished with 13 kills and a .281 attack percentage. Messiah was trailing early 11-9 but a kill by Braedyn Gallagher and RIT error tied it up. With the Tigers ahead 13-12, the Falcons scored three-straight points off a kill by Kristen Douglas and two from Taylor Hook to take the lead 15-13.
 
Later Messiah held the 19-16 advantage but RIT tallied five points to take the lead 21-16. The Falcons responded with two points of their own off two Tiger errors to regain the advantage 22-21 but again two kills from RIT put them behind 23-22.
 
The Falcons answered and finished the third and final set tallying three-straight points off two Tiger errors and a kill by Kristen Douglas to win 25-23.
 
Messiah finished with 32 team kills, a .307 attack percentage, and had nine team blocks in the match. The Falcons are back in action next Tuesday night at home in Brubaker Auditorium when they take on Albright College, match time of 7:00 p.m.