ALTOONA, Pa. - The Messiah College men's volleyball team picked up their first win in program history in thrilling fashion on Wednesday evening. The Falcons defeated Penn State-Altoona 3-2 (24-26, 26-24, 25-22, 23-25, 15-11) and moved to 1-1 on the season.

Brad Nase did a fantastic job balancing the offense and collected 62 assists. Five Falcons calculated double-figure kills to lead Messiah to the fifth-set victory. Travis Hoover led the offense with 21 kills, Logan Hunsberger added 17, Matt Knab had 12, Noah Shreiner contributed 10 and Jarred Sands collected 11 by hitting an outstanding .563. Brendan Warren led the way defensively and collected 18 digs, while Knab added 14 and Caleb Weaver had 12.

As a team, Messiah hit .229 while the Lions only hit .179. The Falcons also collected 68 assists and six aces and seven blocks. However, Penn State-Altoona did a great job defensively at the net, calculating 13 team blocks.

Early Falcon Lead, Lions Comeback
Messiah opened game one with an early 7-to-3 lead over the Lions, but PSU-Altoona scored three points straight to get within one point of the lead. The two teams traded points back and forth but Messiah pulled ahead 15-to-12 after Noah Shreiner scored a kill from the middle. The Lions then went on a 5-to-1 run to take a 17-16 lead over Messiah, but a service error would end that run to tie the game up at 17. Once again, the Falcons and Lions traded points back and forth but the Lions closed out the game 26-24 after Messiah committed three errors in a row.

Similar Story, Different Result
The Falcons got off to a 5-to-3 lead after Matt Knab had back-to-back kills, but then the Lions scored four-straight points to gain a 7-to-5 advantage. Once again the game remained close all the way until the end when PSU-Altoona had a 24-22 lead and was just one point away from going up 2-0. Messiah called a timeout to talk things over and came out of the time-out with a setter-kill by Brad Nase to pull within one. The very next point Logan Hunsberger had two incredible digs to keep Messiah alive and Matt Knab terminated to tie the game at 24-24. Travis Hoover put the ball away to take the lead and Jarred Sands finished the game with a solo-block to even the match up at 1-1.

Messiah Pulls Ahead
After coming off of an intense second game, Messiah found themselves trailing 11-7 in the third set. Matt Knab put a ball away for the Falcons to try to cut the lead down, but PSU-Altoona started to pull ahead (16-11). The Lions committed three attack errors in a row and Logan Hunsberger collected an ace to cut the lead down to one point (15-16). The two teams began exchanging point for point but a kill from Travis Hoover would tie the game at 20-20. Messiah then scored three points in a row after Hunsberger and Hoover each terminated and Noah Shreiner roofed a ball. The Falcons committed two late attack errors but were able to hold on for a 25-22 victory.

What A Battle!
Messiah led for most of the fourth game until the Lions tied it at 14-14 after an ace down the sideline. Two critical errors from the Falcons gave PSU-Altoona a 16-15 lead, but Noah Shreiner responded with a kill to tie the game back up. Once again, the battle continued back and forth and Messiah tied it up at 23-23. The Falcons committed a service error to give the Lions game point and they terminated the next play to win the game and tie the match at 2-2.
 
Fifth Set Frenzy
The fifth and final game was action-packed and high energy. Messiah started the game off with a big kill from Travis Hoover to try to generate some momentum. The Lions responded with a kill of their own but Messiah quickly grabbed a 4-2 lead after Noah Shreiner collected an ace. PSU-Altoona was right on Messiah's heels and cut the Falcons' lead back to just one point (5-4). Setter Brad Nase took matters into his own hands and scored off a setter dump to attempt to spread Messiah's lead out but the Lions responded with three straight points to take a 7-to-6 advantage. After Messiah called a timeout, the Lions committed a service error and the game was tied at seven apiece. However, Messiah responded with a service error of their own and the teams switched sides.

Once again, both teams battled and traded points back and forth and the score was tied at 11-11. Logan Hunsberger terminated for the Falcons to give his team a 12-11 advantage. Travis Hoover then stepped back to serve and delivered an ace for Messiah. Then Lions then committed a blocking error which give the Falcons possible match point. Logan Hunsberger was able to connect on an out-of-system set from Brendan Warren to give Messiah the 15-11 victory and the program's first win.

Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action this Saturday, Feb. 3 in Brubaker Auditorium when they take on Wilkes University. Match time is set for 7:00 p.m.