SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Falcons women's volleyball team defeated the University of Scranton Royals 3-0 (30-28, 25-20, 25-19) Friday evening in their first match of the Swarthmore Invitational. The Falcons sported a .300 hitting percentage in this one with three Falcons recording 10 or more kills in the match. Messiah will play two matches on Saturday beginning at 10:00 a.m. when they face-off with the host Swarthmore College and then turn around at 2:00 p.m. and play Marymount University.
Instant Classic First Set
Both teams traded points all through the first set, with Messiah battling out to a 21-17 lead. The Royals worked their way back into the game with the aid of kills from Caileigh Cox and Tess Ungerleider to tie the game up at 21-21.
Neither team could find the game-winning point in the set as the teams battled to a 24-24 tie. The Royals got a point to get to a 25-24 game point before Messiah used an error and a
Hailey Miller ace to make it 26-25. Scranton then rallied for two points to go ahead 27-26 before the Falcons answered the call again with a
Kate Preudhomme kill. An Ungerleider kill put Scranton in the driver's seat once again at 28-27 before another Preudhomme kill and two Royal errors secured an exciting 30-28 Falcons victory.
Falcons Halt Royals
The Falcons and Royals fought to a 10-10 tie in set two before the Falcons seized the momentum. Messiah went on a 7-2 run that was spearheaded by two
Natalie Marsch kills that made the score 17-12 and forced a Scranton timeout. The Falcons rattled off two more points out of the timeout to stretch their lead to 19-12. The Royals made things interesting after an 8-4 run made it 23-20, but the Falcons held on for a 25-20 set win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Scranton held an 11-9 lead over the Falcons in set three before Messiah went on a 4-0 run to turn the tides and take a 13-11 lead. Scranton snatched the lead back with a 5-2 run to make it 16-15. They didn't hold the lead for long though as kills from
Payton Manwaring,
Lanae Hunsberger, and Preudhomme helped produce a 6-2 Falcons run and gave Messiah a 21-18 advantage. This forced a Royals timeout. This proved to be the difference-maker in the game as Messiah continued their hot streak out of the timeout and won four of the next five points to win the set 25-19 and take the match 3-0.
Messiah played steadily throughout the match and always had an answer when they needed it most.
Mary Underman recorded 17 kills in the match, while
Kate Preudhomme had 11 and
Lanae Hunsberger chipped in 10.
Kristen Seibert dished out 37 assists in the Falcons victory.
What's Up Next
This win gives Messiah a 16-5 overall record with a 3-2 MAC Commonwealth mark as they get right back on the court tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. against Swarthmore College before finishing the Swarthmore Invitational with a match-up with Marymount University at 2:00 p.m.
