HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Messiah College men's volleyball team competed at Juniata College on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons split 1-1 on the day, after they defeated Ramapo College 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-21) but fell to the host team 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 19-25, 22-25). Messiah moved to 10-4 overall on the season.

Match One: Messiah 3, Ramapo 0
Messiah dominated in their match against the Roadrunners. Travis Hoover led the Falcons with 10 kills, Logan Hunsberger added eight, and Jarred Sands hit an .889 after collecting eight kills on nine attempts. Brad Nase received all the assists for Messiah with 35 and Caleb Weaver led the defensive line with six digs.
 
The Falcons hit a .647 in the first set after collecting 13 kills on 17 attempts with only two errors. The first set was neck-and-neck and both teams were tied at 11, but Messiah launched off on a three-point run after a kill and ace from Matt Knab. The Falcons continued to generate momentum throughout the middle of the set and found themselves on a 5-to-0 run to pull ahead 21-13. Ramapo responded with a kill, but Messiah closed out the game on a 4-to-1 run to pull ahead one game to none.
 
Messiah held onto the momentum they generated in the first set and continued to build upon it in the second. The Falcons held a 23-14 advantage at the end of the set, however the Roadrunners found their rhythm and started to cut into Messiah's lead. Ramapo collected four-straight kills to bring the score to 18-23, but they then made an attack error to give game-point to the Falcons. Messiah made back-to-back errors of their own and the Roadrunners were within four points of the lead (24-20). Ian Parzyszek connected off a set from Brad Nase to win the second set (25-20) and go up two games to zero.
 
The Falcons opened up the final set with a 10-4 lead over the Roadrunners, however Ramapo went on a four-point run to cut Messiah's lead down to two points. Messiah sided out after kill by Logan Hunsberger and started to pull ahead. The Falcons were up 18-13 but the Roadrunners weren't done and scored six-straight points to take the lead. During this six-point run, the Falcons committed two errors and Ramapo collected two aces. Both teams traded points back-and-forth and Messiah trailed 22-21. The Falcons then finished the match with four unanswered points to win 25-22. Logan Hunsberger collected back-to-back aces on points 24 and 25 to lead the Falcons to victory.
 
Match Two: Messiah 1, Juniata 3
Messiah battled hard but fell to Juniata 3-1 in the second match of the day. Three Falcons tallied double-digit kills to lead Messiah offensively. Logan Hunsberger led the way with 19 kills, Matt Knab terminated 12 and Noah Shreiner added 10. Travis Hoover collected seven kills and Jarred Sands contributed five on 10 attempts. Brad Nase controlled the tempo and delivered 49 assists for Messiah. Middles Jarred Sands and Noah Shreiner took care of the net defensively and collected three and four blocks, respectively. Logan Hunsberger collected eleven digs out of the middle back, while Brendan Warren added nine from the left back position.
 
Messiah had a strong start to the match with an early 6-1 lead over the Eagles. Both teams began exchanging points back-and-forth and then Juniata went on a three-point run to tie the game at 13-13. Once again, both squads went back-and-forth siding out and the score was tied at 17-17 after Brad Nase terminated for the Falcons. However, the Eagles took off on another four-point run to pull ahead 21-17. Travis Hoover had back-to-back kills for the Falcons late in the set, but it wouldn't be enough, Juniata took game one 25-21.
 
The Falcons responded well in game two and held a 16-12 advantage over the Eagles after Noah Shreiner put away a kill. Juniata generated some momentum and collected three-straight points to pull within one-point (16-15) of the lead. Messiah responded with a kill from Jarred Sands and an error by the Eagles to widen the gap. The Falcons closed out game two with a 7-to-4 run and tied the match up at 1-1.
 
Messiah was leading Juniata 15-12 in the middle of the game three, however the Eagles tied things up at 16-16 and scored two more points to game a 18-16 advantage over the Falcons. Messiah battled and pulled within one-point of the lead (18-19) however Juniata went on a 6-to-1 scoring run to close out the set (25-19).
 
The Falcons needed to win game four to remain in the match and they fought hard to do so, in fact the score was tied 13 different times in the set. However, Messiah fell to Juniata 25-22. The game was intense from the very start and both teams did a good job siding out right away. The Falcons gained a three-point lead (9-6) after an error by the Eagles. Juniata quickly bounced back and tied the game up a 9-9. Both teams exchanged points back-and-forth throughout the middle of the set and Messiah tied the game at 22-22 after Brad Nase and Jarred Sands blocked the ball at the net. Juniata buckled down and went on a three-point run to close out the game (25-22) and to win the match.
 
Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Friday, Mar. 16 when they take on Southern Virginia University on the road at 5:00 p.m. Messiah will then turn around and compete in the Eastern Mennonite University tri-match on Saturday, Mar. 17. Match times are scheduled for 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.