GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah men's volleyball team played one of their best matches of the season with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-21) victory over the Vassar Brewers in their first match of the day. Messiah followed that effort up with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-18) sweep of the Mount Union Purple Raiders. Messiah has now claimed six-straight victories and remain perfect at home in 10 matches this season.

Messiah in back on the court on Wednesday night when they host the Stevenson Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. on Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.
 
Messiah defeats Vassar 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-21)
The entirety of the match was tight, with neither team leading by more than four points at any moment during the three games. After the Brewers held a slim, 6-5 through 11 points in the opening set, Messiah took a little control with a four-point streak to take a 9-6 advantage. Consecutive kills from Shreiner, Caleb Weaver, and Parzyszek fueled the run for the Falcons.
 
The Falcons held a slim cushion throughout the middle portion of the set, but a 6-1 run for Vassar put the Brewers up 19-17, their first lead since the early going of the match. The Falcons swiftly responded with a 4-2 run to tie the set at 21-21 thanks to kills Marshall Nixon and Shreiner. After Vassar's George Diehl collected a kill to end the Messiah run, the Falcons rallied to win four of the final five points, including the final point off a kill from Parzyszek for the 25-23 opening set victory.
 
As a team, Messiah hit at a .345 clip in the opening set with 14 kills and just four errors
 
The second set followed a similar script with Vassar taking an early lead and Messiah battling back to take the game. In the second game, Vassar led 14-10 before the Falcons ripped of an 8-2 run to take an 18-16 lead. During the run, Mat Knab collected a pair of kills and Derek Siewert floored an attack to lead the Falcons. The Brewers hung tough and the two teams stayed close with Vassar eventually tying the game at 22-22 with back-to-back points. Two straight errors by Vassar put Messiah up 24-22 and Knab capped off the set with a kill off a pass from Brad Nase for the 25-22 victory.
 
The second set victory gave Messiah a 2-0 lead heading to the third and the Falcons completed the sweep with a third come-from-behind victory in the final set. The story of the third set was an 8-1 Messiah run that turned a 17-13 Vassar lead into a 21-18 advantage for the Falcons. Four different Falcons earned kills in the run with Shreiner leading the way with a pair. Three out of the next four points went to the Brewers, but Messiah closed out the match by winning the final three points of the set with kills from Knab and Will Webb and a solo block from Nixon.

In the sweep, Ian Parzyszek (.400 hitting %) and Noah Shreiner (.471) each finished with hitting percentages north of .400, while picking up eight and nine kills, respectively. Matt Knab led all players with 11 kills in the match. Caleb Weaver led the defense with eight digs in the match.

Messiah defeats Mount Union 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-18)
The Falcons dominated the Mount Union Purple Raiders in their second match of the day en route to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-18) sweep. Messiah hit at a .155 clip in the match, including a .435 percentage in the opening set. A 25-13 victory in the opening game set the stage for a comfortable victory for the Falcons on the day.
 
In the second set, Messiah and Mount Union were tied at 19-19 before four-straight Mount Union errors put the Falcons up 23-19 late in the set. The Falcons held off a late push from the Purple Raiders with a pair of kills from Marshall Nixon ending the set with a 25-22 victory for the Falcons.
 
Much like the second set, the third was tight until the Falcons put the pedal down midway through the game. With the Falcons holding a 16-14 lead, Messiah rattled off seven-straight points to take a commanding 23-14 lead. The run was fueled with three-straight blocks by the Falcons. Marshall Nixon was part of all three, picking up a solo block and combining for a pair of block assists with Noah Wilson.
 
Nixon finished off his stellar end to the match with two kills off sets from Jared Keul to give Messiah the third set 25-18 and the match 3-0.
 
In the match, Messiah had 10 different Falcons collect kills with Marshall Nixon leading the way with seven. Brad Nase dished out 19 assists while Caleb Weaver collected nine digs, both team highs.
 
The Falcons are back on the court this Wednesday when they host the Stevenson Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. in Hitchcock Arena.