READING, Pa. - The Messiah College men's volleyball team split a pair of Middle Atlantic Conference matches on the road Saturday afternoon. The Falcons battled hard but dropped their first match 3-2 against Alvernia University. However, Messiah was able to bounce back and sweep Eastern University in their second match of the day.
 
Alvernia Defeats Messiah 3-2 (20-25, 28-26, 16-25, 25-20, 15-13)
The Messiah College men's volleyball team dropped their first match of the day to Alvernia University in a five-set battle. The Falcons had a strong start, winning the first 25-20, but dropped game two 28-26. Messiah responded in the third set claiming it 25-16, but once again the Golden Wolves came back and won set four 25-20. Both teams fought well in the fifth set, but Alvernia came out on top 15-13. 

Matt Knab collected a career-high of 26 kills, while Noah Shreiner terminated 17. Will Webb and Ian Parzyszek each added seven kills and Brad Nase controlled the tempo with 59 assists. Caleb Weaver was steady in the back row collecting a career-high of 24 digs.

The first set included of a lot of back-and-forth action, however the Falcons took a 10-5 lead after scoring four-straight points, including a kill from Will Webb. Messiah continued to develop and build upon their lead and took a 19-12 advantage after back-to-back kills from Webb. The Golden Wolves pieced together a 4-to-1 run late in the set to come within four-points of the lead (20-16), however Messiah closed out the set, with two kills from Matt Knab, 25-20 to move ahead 1-0 in the match.

The Falcons had an early 5-2 lead in game two, but the Golden Wolves battled and tied things up a 9-9. The two teams continued to side-out back-and-forth and the game was tied five times, until the Falcons pulled ahead 15-13 after a kill from Matt Knab and a block from Marshall Nixon and Will Webb. However, Alvernia responded with four-straight points to take a 17-15 advantage in the game. Once again the teams traded points back-and-forth, but then Messiah went on a small three-point run to tie the game at 21-21. Messiah had two game-point opportunities late in the set, but the Golden Wolves scored three-straight points to claim the set 28-26.

Messiah bounced back in game three and won the set 25-16. The Golden Wolves struggled offensively in the third set, hitting a -.032, while the Falcons clipped a .250. Messiah started the game with four-straight points, including kills from Matt Knab, Brad Nase, and an ace from Noah Shreiner. Alvernia stuck around and came within one-point of the lead (5-4) after a kill and a block, but Messiah regained the momentum and closed out the set 25-16.

Alvernia responded and claimed the match (3-2) after winning games four and five. Both teams played very well offensively in the last two sets, however the Golden Wolves committed less attack errors than the Falcons, including just one in the final set. Messiah had a solid start to the fifth set and held a 4-1 lead. However, the Golden Wolves tied things up at 4-4 after two straight kills and block. The two teams traded points back-and-forth but then Alvernia took a 9-6 lead after two big kills. Messiah continued to fight and went on a 4-to-1 run to tie the set at 10-10. Ian Parzyszek got this run started with a kill, followed by kills from Matt Knab and Noah Shreiner. Adam Black tied things up (10-10) with an ace from the service line. The Falcons took a 12-11 lead after back-to-back kills from Knab and Shreiner, however the Golden Wolves closed out the set on a 4-to-1 run to win it 15-13.

Messiah fell to 7-4 in the Middle Atlantic Conference, while Alvernia moved to 7-7 in the conference. Messiah will return to the court to take on Eastern University in their second match of the day.

Messiah Defeats Eastern 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-19)
After dropping a close match to Alvernia, the Falcons bounced back and defeated Eastern 3-0. Noah Shreiner led the Falcons' attack with 11 kills, while Ian Parzyszek connected on 10 terminations. Brad Nase dished out 35 assists and Caleb Weaver collected 15 digs.

Messiah started things off strong and won the first set 25-21. Noah Shreiner led all attackers by hitting an .800 in the first set, tallying eight kills on ten attempts. The Falcons had an early 15-8 lead in the opening set, however the Eagles scored five-straight points to bring Messiah's lead down to two (15-13). A kill from Ian Parzyszek ended this run, but once again the Eagles collected three kills to tie the set at 17-17. The Falcons soared to victory and closed out the set on a 8-to-4 claiming it 25-21.

The second set opened with a lot of back and forth action. The score was tied at five different times until Messiah collected five-straight points to take an 11-6 lead, Ian Parzyszek collected two service aces during this scoring spree. Eastern started to chip away at the Falcons' advantage and came within two points of the lead (12-10), however Messiah generated some momentum and scored three-straight points to pull ahead 15-10. The Eagles stuck around and collected three-consecutive points of their own which brought Messiah's lead down to 17-15, however the Falcons sided-out off a kill from Marshall Nixon to extend their lead back to three. The Falcons closed out the set 25-18 to move ahead 2-0 in the match.

Messiah was trailing 5-3 at the beginning of the third set, however they scored three-straight points to take a 6-5 lead. Both squads continued to battle and exchange points, and the score was tied at 10-10. The Falcons then generated some momentum to pull ahead 14-11, including back-to-back kills from Ian Parzyszek, however the Eagles went on a 4-to-1 run to tie the game up at 15-15. Jarred Sands ended this run for Eastern after he connected on a set from Brad Nase to give Messiah a one-point lead (16-15). The Falcons continued to pull ahead and finished the match with a 25-19 victory in the third and final set.

Up Next
Messiah will return to Jordan Court on Wednesday, Apr. 3 when they host Arcadia University. The Falcons will then travel to Misericordia University on Apr. 6 for their final regular season matches.