GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's volleyball team was swept by No. 23 Christopher Newport University this afternoon 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-19).
Jennifer Rusling was honored as the only graduating senior and dished out 18 assists and had eight digs on defense.
Mary Underman had eight kills and four blocks, whiel
Amanda Dahlman finished with 12 digs.
The Falcons came out on the attack and took advantage of some Captain errors to jump to an early 5-1 lead. However, Christopher Newport regained focus and fought their way back to tie the game at eight. Both team struggled at times on offense and so points were traded back-and-forth for most of the set as neither team pulled away. Late in the set with the scored tied at 21, the Captains tallied two points to take the lead 23-21 but the Falcons answerd with a block by
Payton Manwaring and
Heston Cowoski to stay close. After a few more point exchanges, a service ace by Christopher Newport earned them the 26-24 set on victory.
Messiah struggled in the second set finishing with just a .090 attack percentage and committed six errors which Christopher Newport used towards their advantage. The Falcons stayed tight early but midway through the set the Captains pulled away with a seven-point lead and never looked back. Messiah put forth a fight but fell in the second set 25-15.
The Falcons played better in the third set and battled to keep the match going but the Captains at times were too overpowering. With the game tied at 10, Christopher Newport tallied three-straight points to pull ahead 13-10 and while Messiah stifled the rally with a killy by
Lanae Hunsberger, the Captains held a slight edge the remainder of the set. Trailing by just two late in the set 18-16, Christopher Newport scored three points to extend their lead 21-16 and Messiah fought but in the end fell 25-19.
The loss drops Messiah to 14-15 on the year and they will begin MAC Commonwealth Tournament play Monday night. They are the No. 4 seed in this year's tournament and will be hosting No. 5 Alvernia Unviersity at 7:00 p.m.
