GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Falcons defeated the College of New Rochelle 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-21) tonight in their first match of the Messiah Invitational. Messiah's
Kate Preudhomme and
Ellen Musselman led the offense with nine kills and seven kills, respectively.
Amanda Dahlman (14 digs) and
Jessica Zellers (10 digs) helped lock down the defense for the Falcons, both collecting double-digit digs. The Falcons improve to 7-2 on the season and will face off against York College of Pennsylvania tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. here in Jordan Court.
In The Box Score
In the first set, the Falcons started from behind after the Blue Angels registered two kills but retaliated quickly with two kills of their own from
Ellen Musselman and
Lanae Hunsberger. With the score at 2-2, an attack error on the Falcons and a kill from CNR put Messiah behind 4-2 before the Falcons went on a 6-0 run to take control of the game. Two Kills from CNR and a few errors on Messiah set the score at 11-9 in favor of Messiah and the Falcons wouldn't look back from there. The Falcons utilized four kills coming from Musselman and Preudhomme to stretch their lead to a commanding 18-9. CNR fought their way to 15, behind Messiah's 22, with a collection of kills and some errors on the Falcons but that would be the end of their run in the first set. The Falcons exploited two errors from the Blue Angels to set up
Lanae Hunsberger for the game-winning kill to end the set 25-15.
The Falcons collected a match-high, 14 kills, along with a match low, three errors, to help pave the way to their 25-14 win over the Blue Angels in the second set. This time the Falcons started out on top with a kill from
Braedyn Gallagher and an attack error on CNR. The Blue Angels were able to make their way to four points before the Falcons recorded three-straight kills with two coming from Gallagher and one from
Hannah Berger. CNR answered with a kill of their own but Berger and
Ellen Musselman kept the attack going for the Falcons, both adding another kill to the box score. The Blue Angels made a push to close the gap but only drew within four before the Falcons went on a 13-6 run to plow their way to the end of set two.
The third set proved to be the most difficult for the Falcons as both teams came out swinging with CNR registering 12 kills and Messiah picking up 11. After 20 points, the score was tied 10-10. In those opening points, the Falcons and Blue Angels put down five and six kills respectively, to account for the even start. Messiah used kills from
Natalie Marsch and
Braedyn Gallagher and four errors on the Blue Angels to make a 6-2 run, putting the score at 16-12. While the Falcons held the advantage, CNR took advantage of a collection of errors and two kills to pull within one point of Messiah. With the score at 19-18, Messiah closed the game out with a service ace from
Jessica Zellers and kills from three separate Falcons. Of those Falcons was senior,
Ellen Musselman, who picked up seven kills on the night, her most since collecting her career high (8) against Alvernia on Sept. 12, 2017.
Extra Notes
Messiah had a .271 hitting percentage as a team with
Kate Preudhomme leading the way, swinging at a .500 clip while
Ellen Musselman followed closely behind, swinging at .429. The Falcons had nine players record a kill against the Blue Angels and tallied 38 kills total on the night.
Katie Wilcox set up the Falcons for 20 of those kills with
Heston Cowoski chiming in with 12 assists of her own. This was the second meeting between Messiah and CNR with the last matchup dating back to 2014. The Falcons now hold a 2-0 advantage over the Blue Angels.
What's Up Next
The Falcons will face off against the York Spartans at 11:00 a.m. for their second match of the Messiah Invitational and will finish the day with a match against DeSales at 5:00 p.m.
