SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Messiah women's volleyball team were setback Saturday morning, falling 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-21) to Swarthmore College. Messiah struggled offensively as they hit .119 as a team in the loss. Amanda Dahlman recorded a season-high 30 digs for the Falcons in the loss.

In game two, Messiah won a thriller against Marymount University 3-2 (26-24, 25-23, 25-27, 23-25, 16-14). The Falcons got out to a 2-0 lead in the match, but the Saints stormed back with two hard-fought game wins to force a winner-take-all fifth set.

Messiah grabbed a 10-6 lead in set five before Marymount turned the tides and went on a 7-0 run to take a 12-10 lead. Messiah fought back and snatched the match away from Marymount to move to 17-6 overall on the season. The Falcons get back on the court Tuesday night in Hitchcock Arena when they take on the visiting Alvernia Golden Wolves at 7:00 p.m. in a MAC Commonwealth matchup.

Falcons lose to Swarthmore College 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-21)
Messiah found themselves in an early 7-2 hole in set one before a pair of Lanae Hunsberger kills helped manufacture a 5-0 Messiah charge to tie the game up 7-7. The Garnet immediately answered with a 4-0 run of their own to take the lead back at 11-7 before the Falcons stormed back with a 3-0 run to push the set to 11-10.

Swarthmore continued to hold the Falcons off in the set, extending their lead to four and forcing a Messiah timeout after an error made it 17-13. Messiah cut it to two out of the break with a quick 2-0 run to make it 17-15, but Swarthmore shut the door on the Falcons comeback again, using two kills and an error to push their lead back to five at 20-15. Another pair of Hunsberger kills paired with an ace and kill from Mary Underman helped Messiah get to within two with a 6-3 run to make it 23-21. This forced a Swarthmore timeout. The teams traded points out of the timeout to make it 24-22 before a Hailey Miller ace cut the Garnet lead to just one at 24-23. An Isabelle Andrews kill ended the Falcon comeback though as Swarthmore won the set 25-23.

Messiah capitalized on Swarthmore errors at the beginning of set two to take an early 9-6 lead. The Garnet then erupted for a 7-0 run to take the lead at 13-9. A trio of Underman kills helped Messiah storm back with an 8-2 run to snatch the lead back at 17-15. Swarthmore worked their way back with a 5-3 run to tie the game up at 20-20. A Rachel Garratt kill made it 21-20 Falcons before the Garnet took advantage of three Messiah errors during a 5-0 spurt to win the set 25-21. This gave Swarthmore a 2-0 lead in the match.

The two teams traded runs throughout the first half of set three, battling to a 14-14 tie. Messiah didn't help themselves after three errors helped Swarthmore go on a 5-0 charge and take a 19-14 lead. The Garnet didn't give the lead back from this point on, holding the Falcons at bay and taking the set 25-21 and winning the match 3-0.

Messiah beats Marymount University 3-2 (26-24, 25-23, 25-27, 23-25, 16-14)
With set one tied up early at 8-8, Messiah proceeded to take a 14-8 lead after a 6-0 run that was assisted by two Kate Preudhomme kills. The Falcons continued to hold onto the lead throughout the set, holding a 22-17 advantage late into the game. Marymount capitalized on three Falcon errors to produce a 5-0 and tie the set up at 22-22. Messiah then went in the driver's seat with two straight tallies to go up 24-22 before the Saints fought back with two points of their own to knot it back up at 24-24. Natalie Marsch and Kristen Seibert then recorded kills for Messiah and gave the Falcons a nail-biting 26-24 game one win.

Messiah grabbed a 14-9 lead in set two after taking advantage of some Saints errors to take the momentum in the set. They continued to hold onto the lead, taking a 18-14 advantage before Marymount used two Elissa Munsterman kills to go on a 3-0 burst and cut the lead to 18-17. Messiah extended their lead back out to 21-18, but the Saints were not done. They grabbed a 22-21 lead late in the game after a 4-0 run to put the pressure on the Falcons. Two Mary Underman kills and an error helped Messiah get to a 24-22 advantage and have a chance to put the set away. The Saints got a point to make it 24-23, but Messiah used an Underman kill to put the set to bed and go up 2-0 in the match.

Marymount Fights Back
Messiah held a slim 7-5 advantage early in set three before the Saints took the momentum in the game with a 9-3 charge to make it 14-10 Marymount. Underman then recorded three more kills to help the Falcons tie the set back up at 15-15. Neither team was able to find any advantage as they were still tied at 22-22 late in the set. Marymount got to match-point at 24-22 before Messiah fought back with two points to tie it at 24-24. Both teams didn't want to taste defeat in the set. Marymount used two Mykael Johnson kills and a Falcon error to give Marymount the 27-25 set win and cut their deficit to 2-1 in the match.

The Saints held the momentum throughout set four, holding a 20-16 lead before the Falcons began to fight back. The Falcons went on a 7-4 run to cut the lead to just one at 24-23. It was too little too late though for the Falcons, as a Munsterman kill gave Marymount a 25-23 game win to tie the match at 2-2.

Thrilling Final Set
The Falcons held a 10-6 lead in set five with the help of two Payton Manwaring kills and two Underman aces. As they did throughout the match, Marymount was not going to go down easily. The Saints went on a 7-0 run to take a 12-10 lead to put Falcon fans on the edge of their seats. Messiah answered with a huge 4-0 run to take back a 14-12 advantage and put themselves in a match-point situation. Marymount then fought back once again with a kill and a Falcon error to tie it back up at 14-14. The Falcons were not going to be denied however, using an error and a Heston Cowoski ace to win the set 16-14 and win the match 3-2.

Amanda Dahlman recorded 27 digs on defense for the Falcons while Mary Underman hit .457 and recorded 18 kills in the match.

What's Up Next
The Falcons move to 17-6 overall and take on their next MAC Commonwealth foe on Tuesday when they face-off with Alvernia University at 7:00 p.m. inside Hitchcock Arena.