GLENSIDE, Pa. – The Messiah College men's volleyball team competed in the Knight Classic at Arcadia University on Saturday afternoon. They dropped their first match against the Golden Eagles of St. Joseph's College (Long Island) 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 26-24). However, the Falcons quickly rebounded and won their second match 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 18-25, 25-13) over the College of Mount Saint Vincent.
Match 1: Messiah 0, St. Joseph's College-LI 3
Although the Falcons fell to the Golden Eagles in three-straight sets, Messiah hit a .363 and only committed eight errors in the three games. However, Messiah did struggle in serve receive and committed eight reception errors in the match. That is a rare case for the Falcons because they only average 1.2 reception errors per game. The Falcons also committed eight service errors and only collected three aces on the match.
In the first game, the Falcons hit .476 but only collected 11 kills on 21 attempts. St. Joseph's terminated 17 kills on 29 attempts and dropped in three aces to pick up the 25-19 win. Offensively, Messiah outperformed the Golden Eagles in game two. The Falcons hit .433 and gathered 16 kills, while St. Joseph's had 14 kills, six errors, and hit .235. However, Messiah had three service errors and two ball handling errors in which gave St. Joseph's an opportunity to close the game, and win 25-23. In the third, and final set, the Falcons committed three service errors to give the Golden Eagles three of their first four points. Messiah was able to overcome those errors and eventually had a 20-15 lead after
Ian Parzyszek picked up an ace. The Golden Eagles came back on a 11-to-4 run past the Falcons to win the third set 26-24.
Logan Hunsberger led the way with 11 kills, while
Travis Hoover gathered 10 kills.
Noah Shreiner added nine kills and hit an impressive .750.
Brad Nase collected 26 assists for Messiah and both Nase and Hunsberger added five digs.
Eric Weaver picked up two of the Falcons three aces;
Ian Parzyszek collected the third service ace for Messiah.
Match 2: Messiah College 3, College of Mount St. Vincent 1
Messiah had a quick turnaround and immediately had to compete in their match against the College of Mount St. Vincent after they had just fell in their match to St. Joseph's.
Messiah came out strong and won the first two sets 25-20, 25-18 but dropped the third 18-25. Messiah bounced back in the fourth and final set and had a dominant performance. They went on and defeated the Dolphins 25-13.
As a team, the Falcons hit .225 which is slightly lower than their season average (.273). In the third game, Messiah struggled to put the ball away at hit -.061 which included 11 attack errors. However, the Falcons stepped it up in the last set and hit an impressive .455, and tallied 14 kills and four errors.
Travis Hoover had a standout performance for the Falcons, he terminated 14 kills and hit a .545. Defensively, Hoover collected three solo blocks and three block assists along with five digs.
Brad Nase did a phenomenal job spreading the offense and finished the match with 36 assists. Every hitter contributed considerably for Messiah in their win over the Dolphins.
Logan Hunsberger added 10 kills,
Matt Knab had nine,
Jarred Sands contributed seven, and
Noah Shreiner put away six.
Caleb Weaver and Hunsberger had five digs for the Falcons, while Sands was aggressive at the net picking up five blocks.
Up Next:
Messiah will pick up MAC conference play when they host Arcadia University on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7:00 p.m. The Falcons and the Knights are both 2-0 in MAC play.
