OWINGS Mills. Md. - The Falcons traveled to Stevenson University for the MAC Commonwealth Semifinal but fell short to the Mustangs, dropping the match 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-21).  Messiah's attack was led by Kate Preudhomme and Natalie Marsch who had eight and seven kills, respectively. A trio of Falcons combined for 24 digs with Katie Wilcox, Amanda Dahlman, and Heston Cowoski each collecting eight. Dahlman (2) and Wilcox (1) also recorded service aces against the Mustangs, as did Mary Underman(1). Payton Manwaring led the team in blocks as she helped on three with Kate Preudhomme and Mary Underman both helping on one block each. Katie Wilcox and Heston Cowoski registered 15 and 12 assists, respectively. The Falcons end their 2018 season with an overall record of 15-16 and a 5-3 conference record.

How It Happened
A service ace from the Mustangs started the first set but the Falcons answered with a kill from Payton Manwaring. From there, Stevenson utilized heavy attacking pressure to go on a 5-1 run, putting the score at 6-2. Messiah answered with a 5-0 run with kills from Lanae Hunsberger and Mary Underman along with a handful of Stevenson errors. The Falcons didn't hold on to the lead long, giving up three points due to errors and a kill from the Mustangs to force Messiah into a timeout with the score at 10-7. Out of the talk, Messiah went on another 5-0 run to take a 12-10 lead over the Mustangs. Stevenson answered back once more with a 7-1 rally, causing the Falcons to talk it over once more. With the score at 17-13 after the timeout, Messiah registered a kill from Kate Preudhomme before the Mustangs picked up two more points in the match, setting the score at 19-14. Lanae Hunsberger sparked some momentum for the Falcons with a kill which was followed by a service ace from Amanda Dahlman and two attacking errors on the Stevenson that put the score at 19-18, forcing the Mustangs to take a timeout. Back and forth kills from both squads put the score at 21-19 out of the Mustangs timeout but a bad set would draw the Falcons within one point once more in the match. Stevenson used a Falcon error and three kills to hold off Messiah in the first set, earning the 25-22 victory.

In the second set, Stevenson picked up the first two points but the Falcons responded with two kills from Lanae Hunsberger and a service ace from Amanda Dahlmanto take a 4-3 lead. Stevenson utilized a kill from Caroline Dangel and three Messiah errors to regain the lead with the score at 7-4. Messiah was able to pull within once with a kill from Mary Underman and two Stevenson errors but the Mustangs went on a 3-0 run that forced Messiah to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, Messiah gave up two points with errors, giving Stevenson the 13-7 lead but Natalie Marsch and Kate Preudhomme registered kills. that would help spark a 4-0 run, putting the Falcons two points behind the Mustangs with the score now at 14-12. With a little back and forth play, Messiah was able to collect kills from Kate Preudhomme and Lanae Hunsberger but Stevenson responded with kills of their own to force Messiah into another timeout with the score at 19-14. The talk proved useful as Messiah came out swinging to earn a 5-1 run with kills from Natalie Marsch and Hannah Berger, setting the score 20-19 and forcing the Mustangs to call a timeout. Stevenson came out of the timeout with a 5-1 run to end the second set with a final score of 25-20.
 
The third set proved to be a similar battle for the two teams as the Mustangs earned the first point of the match before giving up the second point of the match with a service error. After going down 3-1 in the set, Messiah would regain the lead momentarily with the score at 4-3 but the Mustangs benefitted from Messiah errors and a Stevenson service ace to take an 8-5 lead. Mary Underman would register a kill to stop the Stevenson run but the Mustangs kept swinging and increased their lead to 10-6. Messiah answered back with a 5-0 run with kills from Natalie Marsch and Payton Manwaring and a service ace to take an 11-10 lead and force a Stevenson timeout. The next 14 points of the match saw four lead changes that were highlighted by kills from Payton Manwaring, Kate Preudhomme, and Lanae Hunsberger with Messiah holding a 18-17 lead. Stevenson retaliated with a quick 3-0 run that forced the Falcons to take a timeout but didn't slow the Mustangs down as they earned two more points to take a 22-18 lead, forcing the Falcons to call another timeout. This talk proved useful as Messiah went on a 3-1 run with a two kills from Natalie Marsch but the Mustangs were able to hold off Messiah's attack and take the set 25-21.