GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah College men's volleyball team's inaugural season came to an end after they were defeated by the Knights of Arcadia 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-16) on Wednesday evening. The No. 2-seeded Falcons had a great start to the match but lacked consistency in the final three games. Overall, Messiah had a great season going 15-10 and finishing second overall in the MAC with a 9-3 record. Arcadia will move on to compete against No. 1-seeded Stevenson in the MAC Championship on Saturday.

Messiah struggled offensively and only hit a .186 on the match after committing 23 errors and having trouble staying in-system. Arcadia took care of business at the end and hit a .285 and collected 11 blocks, while the Falcons had five.

Matt Knab defended well for Messiah and picked up 12 digs while Caleb Weaver added six. Brad Nase and Adam Black secured five digs apiece for the Falcons in the right back position.

Brad Nase delivered 39 assists for the Falcons to lead their offense. Senior outside hitter Logan Hunsberger terminated 14 kills in his last match as a Falcon and senior Travis Hoover was steady on the right pin and added 10 kills. Jarred Sands was efficient in the middle; he hit a .462 and collected 8 kills. Matt Knab was aggressive at the service line and tallied four aces for the Falcons.

Side-Out Volleyball
It was apparent in the first set that both teams were hungry to win the match. The first game was close and consisted back-and-forth action from both squads. Messiah went on a small three-point run early in the set after Matt Knab picked up a kill and two service aces, but the Knights responded to tie things up at 9-9. Side-out play occurred throughout the middle of the set and then Arcadia pulled ahead 18-16 after scoring off of back-to-back kills and an error by Messiah. The Falcons came out of their timeout and tied the game at 18-18 but once again the Knights pulled ahead two points. Messiah then went on a  4-2 run to once again tie the game at 22-22. Matt Knab picked up another ace for the Falcons to pull ahead 23-22, however Arcadia answered with a kill. A successful attack by Noah Shreiner gave Messiah game point and a setting error by the Knights put the Falcons up 1-0.

Down Early, Falcons Fight Back
Arcadia opened the second set with a 8-2 lead over the Falcons. Messiah slowly narrowed the margin after Noah Shreiner and Logan Hunsberger terminated off of Brad Nase's delivery(10-5). The Knights were able to side-out but then committed six-straight errors to tie the game at 11-11. Once again, back-and-forth action began and but then the Falcons committed four-straight errors which put the Knights up 18-15. The Falcons came out of their timeout scoring back-to-back points as they started to execute their game plan. At the end of the set, Messiah was within one-point of the lead (24-23) after Travis Hoover put away a ball. However, the Knights came out victorious after a service error by Messiah and tied the game at 1-1.

Knights Gain Momentum
The start of the third set was competitive and both teams were putting away the ball, however Arcadia went on a 7-to-3 run past Messiah and gained an 18-13 advantage. Kills from Jarred Sands and Travis Hoover and an error by Arcadia brought Messiah back into the game and they were only trailing by two (18-16). Jason Manley, who hit an impressive .425 (20 kills) on the match, sided things out for his team and put the Knights up three. The Falcons hung around and secured back-to-back points to come within one (19-18) but Arcadia went on a four-point run to once again pull ahead (23-28). Noah Shriener and Logan Hunsberger terminated on two-straight attempts to narrow the gap, but the Knights received game-point after a service error by Messiah. Arcadia won game three (25-21) after a kill from Quinn Baily and pulled ahead 2-1.

Falcons Struggle to Terminate
Messiah struggled offensively in the fourth set. They only collected seven kills on 34 attempts and committed 6 errors (0.029). Similar to the start of the second set, Messiah trailed early (9-2) as they struggled in serve receive which led to an inconsistent offense. The Falcons tried to get things going after a kill from Noah Shreiner, however Austin Braas responded with back-to-back kills for the Knights. Arcadia pulled ahead 21-10 after two errors from Messiah and a kill from their setter, but then committed two consecutive errors to allow Messiah to get back into the set. At 23-12, Messiah went on a four-point run after kills from Matt Knab and Logan Hunsberger and two errors from the Knights to bring their lead down to seven (23-16). Edwin Waters finished the match for the Knights with back-to-back kills to secure the 25-16 win and a ticket to the MAC championship match.

Fantastic Inaugural Season
As mentioned earlier, Messiah had a phenomenal first season as a NCAA collegiate program. They finished 15-10 overall and 9-3 within the conference. Messiah was also well represented in the Middle Atlantic Conference awards. Head Coach Justin Beachy was named Coach of the Year for the MAC, while Logan Hunsberger and Brad Nase were named All-MAC First Team. Travis Hoover, Brendan Warren, and Caleb Weaver also received conference recognition on the All-MAC Second Team.

Messiah has now gained experience at the collegiate level after playing some of the top teams in the region and we will look forward to see them back in action in the 2019 season.