GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's volleyball team was defeated by Arcadia University 3-1 (25-27, 25-14, 20-25, 20-25) this evening in a MAC Commonwealth conference match. It was a close match with competitive sets but the Falcons faltered and committed costly errors at times that led to the loss. Mary Underman finished with 16 kills, while Braedyn Gallagher had a double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs, and Kate Preudhomme tallied 13 kills. Jennifer Rusling dished out 40 assists and had 13 digs, while libero Amanda Dahlman had 13 digs on defense.

Both teams were pretty evenly matched in the first set as each finished with 14 kills. Arcadia held a solid lead for most of the set but Messiah slowly chipped away to come back. With the score 18-13, the Falcons tallied four-straight points to pull within one 18-17. Later with the Knights leading 22-20, two kills and a block by Mary Underman, and then one kill from Braedyn Gallagher gave the Falcons a 24-22 edge. However, Arcadia scored two to tie it and then with the score tied again at 25 they scored the final two points off kills to take set one 27-25.
 
Set two saw the offense settle in and show more consistency for Messiah as they finished with more kills (14-8) and had a .300 attack percentage. With the score tied at eight early, the Falcons utilized two kills by Payton Manwaring, one from Kate Preudhomme, and an ace by Jennifer Rusling to take a 12-8 lead. Later with a comfortable four-point cushion a couple more kills and two service aces by Heston Cowoski gave them a 20-12 advantage. The remainder of the set was pretty smooth sailing, leading 22-14 a kill by Lanae Hunsberger and two aces by Underman earned the Falcons the set two victory 25-14.
 
The third set was a competitive one as both teams were looking to take that important set lead and both played well but Arcadia was able to edge Messiah 25-20. There was a lot of back-and-forth scoring and it wasn't until midway through the set that the Knights managed to tally four-straight points and go ahead 19-14. Messiah slowly cut the lead but unfortunately not enough to halt Arcadia's momentum.
 
The Falcons needed a win in the fourth set but six errors were costly and the Knights took advantage. While both teams traded points, with the score tied at 13 Arcadia scored four points to pull ahead 17-13 and they kept that advantage for the remainder of the set en route to the 25-20 win.

The loss drops Messiah to 13-13 on the year and 4-2 in the conference. They will be back on Jordan Court this Friday night at 6:00 p.m. taking on Gettysburg College to kick off homecoming weekend.