GLENSIDE, Pa. – The Messiah College men's volleyball team fell to the Knights of Arcadia 3-2 (26-28, 16-25, 25-22, 25-19, 11-15) in a five-set thriller on Tuesday evening. The Falcons dropped to 13-8 overall and 7-3 within the MAC, while Arcadia moved to 13-10 overall and 6-2 in the conference.

Messiah had a slow start to the match and trailed 2-0 early. However they were able to find their rhythm offensively and hit a .237 on the match. Arcadia on the other hand was fairly consistent throughout the match and hit a .277.

Brad Nase paced the Falcon offense with 49 assists and Matt Knab led the way with 15 kills. Travis Hoover and Jarred Sands each added 12 kills, while Noah Shreiner and Logan Hunsberger posted eight apiece.

Arcadia opened that match with an early 7-2 lead over the Falcons, but Messiah was able to piece together two consecutive points to bring the Knight's lead down to three. Arcadia's aggressive offense was evident early in the game and they quickly extended their lead to six points (11-5) forcing the Falcons to call their second and final timeout. Arcadia came out of the timeout and scored back-to-back kills and then Messiah went on a 5-to-0 run to bring the Knight's lead back down to six. The Falcons stayed determined and after trailing 18-13 they went on a four-point scoring run to bring Arcadia's lead down to 18-17. Matt Knab played a big role in this run after he picked up back-to-back aces. Both teams battled late in the set and Messiah took a 22-21 lead after a ball handling error by the Knights. Once again, the squads battled and the game was tied at 26-26, however the Knights scored back-to-back points at the end of the game to pick up a 28-26 win.

Messiah trailed 9-5 early in the second set but put together a three-point run to bring the Knight's lead down to one point (9-8). Arcadia then went on a 9-to-0 run to regain a decent 18-8 advantage over the Falcons. Messiah picked up back-to-back kills late in the set but it wouldn't be enough. Arcadia secured set two 25-16.

Things started to turn around for the Falcons in games three and four. In the third set, Messiah hit a .357 (15 kills, five errors, 20 attempts) and in the fourth set they terminated .375 (12 kills, three errors, 24 attempts). The Falcons opened game three with an early 6-3 lead but the Knights went on a four-point run to gain the lead. Both teams battled throughout the middle of the set and Messiah pulled ahead 22-20. Arcadia was able to side out but the Falcons held their advantage and finished the set with back-to-back kills from Matt Knab and Travis Hoover to defeat the Knights 25-22.

The fourth set was Messiah's strongest set as a team. The score was tied at 9-9 early in the set and the Falcons exploded on a 7-to-2 run past the Knights to gain a 16-11 lead. However, Arcadia was able to work their way back into the game and brought Messiah's lead down to two (19-17). Matt Knab helped his team regain the momentum after a kill assisted by Nase and then Travis Hoover followed suite with a termination of his own. Messiah held a 23-18 advantage but a kill from Jason Manley kept the Knights in it. Jarred Sands terminated the ball to give Messiah game point and the Falcons soared to victory in game four after a block from Travis Hoover and Logan Hunsberger.

The Falcons trailed early (5-2) in the fifth and final set, but were able to generate some momentum and came within one-point of the lead when the teams switched sides (8-7). After the teams swapped sides, Arcadia scored back-to-back kills to pull ahead 10-7. Messiah called a timeout to regroup and Travis Hoover came out of the timeout with a kill. Both teams traded points back-and-forth but the Knights outscored Messiah 4-to-2 late in the set to win the five-set thriller 15-11.

Up Next
Messiah will be back in action on Wednesday, April 4 when they host Wilkes University at 7:00 p.m.