SELINSGROVE, Pa. - The Falcons opened up the Hampton Inn Riverhawk Classic with a match against Frostburg St. Messiah earned a commanding 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-18) win on the day. Lanae Hunsberger led the team in kills, collecting 14 kills. Natalie Marsch and Kate Preudhomme each accumulated seven kills of their own. Amanda Dahlman and Natalie Marsch each helped the Messiah defense with double-digit digs in the three sets with 19 and 11, respectively. Messiah will play against Rochester tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. to continue the Riverhawk Classic.
 
How It Happened
In the first set, Messiah came out swinging, registering 15 kills, their highest all night. After three errors on Frostburg, Messiah was up 3-1 and would utilize kills from Hunsberger and Preudhomme to make it 5-2. The set would prove to be a battle though as Frostburg stayed with the Falcons and eventually had the game tied 18-18. Six kills from the Falcons would help them secure the first set 25-21.
 
The second set almost mirrored the first as the Falcons were up 3-0 off three attacking errors from the Bobcats. Despite the early momentum, the Falcons suffered from errors of their own and went down 8-5 in the set before rallying back into the game with kills from Lanae Hunsberger, Kate Preudhomme, Natalie Marsch, and Mary Underman. With the score 12-10 in favor of the Falcons, the teams went back and forth before Messiah forced Frostburg to take a timeout with the score at 23-19. Messiah used an attacking error on the Bobcats and a kill from Natalie Marsch to end the second set 25-20.
 
Unlike the first two sets, the Falcons played from behind momentarily after a service ace and a kill from the Bobcats. Messiah pushed through with kills from Hunsberger and Underman to tie things 6-6. Three straight kills from the Bobcats forced Messiah to call a timeout and it proved usefull as the Falcons registered kills from Hannah Berger and Natalie Marsch. Messiah also used three attack errors on the Bobcats to draw within one with the score at 12-11. Hunsberger collected a trio of kills to spark a 10-0 run that forced the Bobcats to call two timeouts. The heavy pressure from Messiah would prove to be too much for Frostburg as the Falcons stopped their offense at 15 points before Hannah Berger struck the game-winning kill. 
 
Up Next
The Falcons continue play at the Hampton Inn Riverhawk Classic tomorrow as they take on Rochester at 3:00 p.m. and Susquehanna at 5:00 p.m.