GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Falcons fought their way through four sets against conference rival Stevenson University, but fell 3-1 (27-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-21) on Jordan Court.
Kate Preudhomme,
Lanae Hunsberger, and
Mary Underman all finished tonight's match with 10-plus kills. Messiah moves to 6-2 on the season and 1-1 in the conference. The Falcons will face off against the College of New Rochelle on Friday, Sept. 14, here in Grantham, Pa. at 7:00 PM.
How It Happened
In the first set, the Falcons commanded the offense, registering six of the first eight kills in the set. With the quick start, Messiah kept the pressure on the Mustangs by way of back to back service aces from
Braedyn Gallagher, giving the Falcons an 11-9 lead. Messiah continued to increase their cushion with kills from
Payton Manwaring,
Mary Underman, and
Lanae Hunsberger, increasing the advantage to six points at 18-12. The Mustangs took advantage of four Messiah errors to pull within two at 20-18. The two sides traded points until Messiah held a 24-21 lead. The three points weren't enough as Stevenson rallied for six of the final seven points to claim the set 27-25.
Kate Preudhomme tallied two of the first three kills in the second set, giving the Falcons the early 2-1 lead. The Mustangs followed with a 14-5 run to take a commanding eight point lead over Messiah. Back-to-back points from the Falcons started a 7-2 run, highlighted by two aces from
Jessica Zellers, that brought Messiah within three at 17-14. The Mustangs countered with a 7-2 run of their own before eventually closing out the set with a kill from Victoria Prokic. Stevenson controlled the majority of the second set against the Falcons, collecting 15 kills while swinging at a .312 clip.
The third set proved to be a battle for the Falcons as the two teams tallied points back and forth, keeping the score fairly even until reaching 10-10. A fight to the finish showed the resilience of the Falcons as they collected 11 kills in the set and held even with the Mustangs until breaking away with errors from Stevenson and multiple kills from Hunsberger and Underman to give the Falcons a 17-14 lead. An attack error on the Mustangs followed by a service ace from
Mary Underman put Messiah up 19-15 with the momentum in the Falcons' favor. A pair of attack errors on Stevenson and a service ace from
Braedyn Gallagher gave Messiah a 24-20 lead.
Lanae Hunsberger found herself with the final kill of the third set to give the Falcons their lone game in the match.
Seven kills from the Mustangs and five errors on the Falcons started the fourth set, giving Stevenson the 12-3 advantage over Messiah. The Falcons used four kills and a trio of aces from
Mary Underman to charge back into the set, putting the score at 15-13 with the Mustangs still maintaining the advantage. Heavy pressure from Stevenson sealed the win for them as they closed the match with six kills and a service ace, giving them the 25-21 win over the set and a 3-1 win overall in the match.
In The Box Score
A trio of Falcons led the offensive charge tonight against the Mustangs as
Mary Underman,
Kate Preudhomme, and
Lanae Hunsberger all collected 10-plus kills. As a team, the Falcons compiled 47 kills against the Mustangs tonight.
Mary Underman finished the night with a .429 hitting percentage and four service aces.
Amanda Dahlman and
Braedyn Gallagher showed their defensive skills through all four sets, with Dahlman accumulating 20 digs and Gallagher finishing with 12.
Heston Cowoski led the Falcons in assists tonight as she put up 22 for the team while
Katie Wilcox followed close by with 15 of her own.
What's Up Next
The Falcons stay at home as they host the Messiah College Invitational this weekend, playing games against the College of New Rochelle on Sept. 14 at 7:00 PM and opening up play on Saturday morning against York College of Pennsylvania at 11:00 AM. The Falcons will play their third game of the weekend against DeSales University at 5:00 PM on Saturday as well.
