GRANTHAM, Pa. - The fourth-seeded Messiah women's volleyball team defended their home court in the MAC Commonwealth Play-In Match, defeating the fifth-seeded Widener Pride by a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-21) final. Messiah now advances to the semifinals and a date with the top-seeded Stevenson Mustangs on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. in Owings Mills.
 
Kate Preudhomme and Natalie Marsch finished led the Messiah attack with 10 kills each. Both notched hitting percentages over .475, with Prudhomme finishing with a match-high .526 hitting percentage while Marsch connected at a .476 clip.
 
Amanda Dahlman, who collected her 1,000th career dig over the weekend, led the Falcons with 17 digs on the evening and the setting duo of Katie Wilcox and Heston Cowoski combined for 33 of Messiah's 38 assists.
 
As mentioned the Falcons will face the top-seeded Stevenson Mustangs on Wednesday evening when they travel to Owings Mills, Md. for the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals. When the Falcons and Mustangs met in the regular season, Stevenson earned a 3-1 (27-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-21) victory over the Falcons in Hitchcock Arena on Sept. 11.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons have struggled at times this season closing out tight sets. On Monday night, they put their foot down, featuring solid finishes to all three sets lead to a sweep of the visiting Widener Pride.
 
Messiah got off to a hot start in the opening set, claiming seven of the first 10 points to take an early 7-3 lead. The Pride came roaring back with six-straight points to take the lead at 9-7 and eventually held a 17-15 advantage later in the set. Messiah won the next three points thanks to a pair of kills from Mary Underman and a Widener attacking error and took the lead back at 18-17. That three-point streak started a 10-4 run that closed out the set and gave the Falcons the opening set by a 25-21 final.
 
The Falcons started the second set a little slower than the first with the Pride taking a 6-4 lead. The advantage continued into the middle of the game when Widener held a 14-11 advantage after a quick 4-0 run. Messiah immediately followed with a 5-0 run of their own fueled by two kills from Lanae Hunsberger and a kill from Mary Underman to take the lead at 16-14. After Widener leveled the score at 17-17, Messiah closed out the set with an 8-3 run that was capped off by a Natalie Marsch ace to give the Falcons the second set, 25-20.
 
Unlike the first two sets the third set was more of a back-and-forth battle with the lead changing hands a number of times through the middle portion of the set. The Falcons held slight leads of 13-12, 15-14, and 16-15, before trailing 19-17 after a 4-1 run for the Pride. A Natalie Marsch kill sparked another strong finish to the set, with Messiah closing out the match on an 8-2 run. Three different Falcons earned kills on the run and Amanda Dahlman collected on of her two service aces as Messiah took the set 25-21 and the match 3-0.

What's Up Next
As mentioned, Messiah will now travel to Stevenson to take on the top-seeded Mustangs in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday night. Wednesday's meeting between Messiah and Stevenson will be the sixth time in the last seven seasons that the two programs have met in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament.