GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's volleyball team was defeated by Lebanon Valley this evening 3-2 (25-17, 25-20, 17-25, 20-25, 12-15). The Falcons won the first two sets and had a lead in the fourth but the Dutchmen utilized some errors and strong attack to pull out the come from behind victory. Mary Underman led with 20 kills and a .462 attack percentage, Payton Manwaring had 12 kills and four block assists, and Lanae Hunsberger had 10 kills. Jennifer Rusling tallied 42 assists and 16 digs while Kate Preudhomme recorded 19 digs on defense. Overall Messiah had 90 digs, 58 kills, and 13 team blocks on the night.

The stakes were high heading into this match with both of these teams tied in the MAC Commonwealth standings and the winner would earn the No. 3 seed for the tournament next week and have a first round bye.
 
The first set was a nail biter for a good portion as both teams came out on the attack and scoring was back-and-forth. With the Falcons trailing 12-10 they tallied six-straight points to take a 16-12 advantage. Hannah Berger and Mary Underman provided two big blocks to aide the scoring run. After the Dutchmen scored two points to cut the lead, the Falcons answered with three in a row to go ahead by five 19-14.
 
Later in the set Messiah was holding a comfortable 20-16 cushion and then went on a four-point scoring run with kills by Lanae Hunsberger and Payton Manwaring to extend the lead 24-16 and went on to win 25-17.
 
The Falcons were on the heels a little in the second set struggling to find a good rhythm and fell behind 16-8. However, that didn't deter them as they went on a huge scoring run tallying eight-straight points to tie the game. Berger and Manwaing each had provided two kills, two block assists, and Kate Preudhomme hammered down a kill.
 
There was a definite momentum shift and not long after Messiah went ahead with the lead 19-17 and later extended the gap 23-18. After Lebanon Valley scored a few points, a block by Jennifer Rusling and Mary Underman and a kill from Preudhomme earned Messiah the 25-20 win.
 
The third set was a struggle for Messiah and errors were costly and Lebanon Valley took advantage. The Falcons fell behind early and unfortunately could not put together a come back like they did in the second set. They did make a late run to pull within six 22-16, but it wasn't enough as the Dutchmen won set three 25-17.
 
Messiah came out stronger in the fourth set and looked to end the match and jumped to an early 11-6 lead with solid kills by Lanae Hunsberger and Hannah Berger. Later with a nice 17-12 advantage it seemed the Falcons had a little breakdown as the Dutchmen scored seven points in a row to pull ahead 19-17. That proved to be a pivotal moment that did not go in favor of Messiah as Lebanon Valley held the lead and went on to win set four 25-20.
 
Heading into the fifth and final set and a No. 3 seed in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament on the line Lebanon Valley came out swinging and had Messiah on their backs with an early 6-2 lead.  The Falcons slowly chipped away and later trailing 14-10, they tallied two kills to cut the lead 14-12, but then a final kill from Lebanon Valley sealed the deal and handed Messiah the 15-12 set five and match loss.

The loss drops the Falcons to 14-15 and 5-3 in the conference. They will be back in action this Saturday Oct. 28 hosting Christopher Newport with a match time of 4:00 p.m.