Grantham, PA – The Messiah women's volleyball team defeated conference opponent Lycoming College 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-15) tonight at home. Jane Underman led the team with 13 kills and had an impressive .542 hitting percentage while Mary Underman added eight kills of her own. Taylor Hook and Hannah Baumer finished with four blocks apiece and Brooke Gallagher dished out 37 assists in the win.
 
Both teams came out aggressive and on the attack in the first set as points were traded back-and-forth. Messiah had more kills (16-8), a higher attack percentage (.387-.103) and committed less errors (4-5) than Lycoming in the first set.

The Falcons were trailing 12-7 but scored five unanswered points off two kills by Hannah Baumer, a kill by Jane Underman, a service ace by Brooke Gallagher, and a Warrior error to tie it at 12. The Warriors responded by scoring two-straight points off a kill and Messiah error to regain the lead, 14-12.

With the scored tied at 14 Messiah tallied three-straight points on two Lycoming errors and a service ace by Danielle Weaver. Messiah held the lead 22-18, and kills from Jane Underman and Kristen Douglas brought the Falcons close to set victory. However, the Warriors answered with a kill of their own to pull within five, 24-19. On the next play Jane Underman hammered down a tremendous kill to give Messiah the 25-19 set one victory.

Set two proved to be similar to the first as both teams were evenly matched but the Falcons used a late-set scoring run to win the second set by a score of 25-20. Messiah tallied more kills (15-13), finished with a higher attack percentage (.342-.290), and only committed two errors in the second set.
 
In the set, Messiah was trailing 10-7 but scored three unanswered points off two Lycoming errors and a kill by Jane Underman to tie it up at 10. The Warriors responded with two kills to take the lead 12-10.
 
Down 16-14, a kill by Kristen Douglas and outstanding kill by Taylor Hook would tie it up at 16. The Falcons then scored two more points off a kill by Jane Underman and Lycoming error to regain the lead 18-16.
 
With a comfortable 22-19 advantage, Kristen Douglas hammered down two kills but Lycoming responded with one of their own to keep Messiah from set victory at 24-20. A final kill by Mary Underman would seal the set two victory.
 
In the third and final set Messiah dominated; winning by a score of 25-15. The Falcons finished with a game-high .538 set attack percentage and tallied 15 kills.
 
Messiah held an 8-5 advantage and scored three-straight points off two Lycoming errors and kills by Hook and Jane Underman to extend their lead to 11-5. 
 
Later in the set, with Messiah leading 17-12, an impressive block assist by Taylor Hook and Kristen Douglas started a four-point scoring streak for the Falcons. An attack error and kills by Hook, Hannah Baumer, and Braedyn Gallagher finished the streak, giving Messiah a 21-12 lead.
 
With the score 24-15, Jane Underman tallied a final kill to give Messiah the set and match win. They finished with an impressive season-high .422 attack percentage and only committed seven errors on the night.
 
Messiah has won seven-straight matches including six-straight sweeps. The Falcons are back in action this weekend when they travel to Washington D.C. for the Gallaudet Tournament.