GRANTHAM, Pa. – Messiah men's volleyball hosted Alvernia University in a Middle Atlantic Conference match on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons came out victorious after they defeated the Golden Wolves 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-19). Messiah moved to 13-7 overall and 7-2 in the MAC while Alvernia dropped to 11-12 overall and 5-4 in the conference.
The Falcons demonstrated a consistent and aggressive offense and hit a .413 in their win over Alvernia. Messiah picked up 41 kills on 75 attempts and only committed 10 total attack errors. The Falcons also defended well and gathered six total blocks and 29 digs.
Brad Nase did a great job quarterbacking Messiah's offense with 34 assists and
Matt Knab (.647) led the way with 12 kills and only one error.
Logan Hunsberger added nine terminations while
Travis Hoover and
Jarred Sands each collected seven. Nase also led defensively with six digs, while Knab, Hunsberger, and
Caleb Weaver each produced five digs. Consistency from the service line still proved to be a challenge for the Falcons. They committed 10 service errors and only picked up two aces in their match against the Golden Wolves. Alvernia also struggled from the endline and committed 11 service errors.
Falcons Bring the Heat
The Falcons hit an impressive .524 in the first set after collecting 13 kills and only committing two errors on 21 attempts. Messiah came out strong and held an early 7-3 advantage after back-to-back kills from
Noah Shreiner and
Matt Knab. The Golden Wolves battled with the Falcons and came within two points of the lead (11-9) but Messiah went on a 6-to-1 run to pull ahead 17-10. Alvernia then pieced together a three-point run including a kill and an ace to cut into Messiah's lead, but
Travis Hoover terminated a ball from
Brad Nase to extend the lead 18-13. The Golden Wolves weren't done and went on a 4-to-2 run late in the set to bring Messiah's lead down to 22-19, however the Falcons finished the game with three-straight points, two kills by Hoover, to win game one 25-19.
Let the Battle Begin
The second set was a lot closer and evenly matched than the first. Both teams hit the ball well and did a good job siding out point for point. Alvernia hit a .296 (11 kills, three errors, 27 attempts) while Messiah hit an even .400 (17 kills, five errors, on 30 attempts). In the middle of the set, Messiah had a slight 15-14 advantage over the Golden Wolves after battling back-and-forth. The Falcons then scored four-straight points after kills from
Noah Shreiner,
Logan Hunsberger, and
Matt Knab and an error from Alvernia, to pull ahead 19-14. The Golden Wolves generated some momentum after a timeout and came out on a 6-to-1 run to tie the game at 20-20. Four of Alvernia's six points during that run were from Messiah's errors.
Logan Hunsberger regained the lead for Messiah after producing his fourth kill of the set. The Golden Wolves also committed an error to give the Falcons a two-point lead (22-20). Alvernia then scored back-to-back points of their own to tie the game at 22-22. Messiah completed the set with a kill from
Matt Knab and
Logan Hunsberger and an error by the Golden Wolves to secure a 2-0 advantage going into the third set.
Falcons Take Off Late in Third Set
The third and final set started very similar to game two and both teams were in it. The score was tied seven different times before either team had reached ten points. The turning point was when
Jarred Sands picked up a kill late in the set to give Messiah a 20-18 advantage. Sands' kill launched the Falcons on a five-point scoring run (24-18) and they were one point away from winning the match. However, the Golden Wolves continued to battle and picked up a late kill by Collin Welteroth but it wouldn't be enough.
Matt Knab terminated a ball on match point which secured the 25-19 win and gave Messiah a 3-0 sweep over Alvernia.
Up Next
Messiah will travel to Glenside, PA on Tuesday, Mar. 24 to take on Arcadia University at 7:00 p.m. The last time these two teams met, the Falcons defeated the Knights 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 28-16, 25-19).
