NEWARK, N.J. - Messiah College men's volleyball traveled to Newark N.J. on Saturday morning and were defeated 3-1 (25-12, 25-14, 14-25, 25-22) by the Scarlet Raiders of Rutgers-Newark. The Falcons had a slow start to the match, dropping the first two sets 25-12, 25-14. However, Messiah battled back and picked up a dominant 25-14 win in the third set. The fourth set was action packed but Rutgers-Newark came out on top winning the game 25-22. The Falcons fell to 10-7 overall on the season and will look to bounce back when they host Penn State Altoona on Mar. 13.

Brad Nase steadied the Falcons' offense with 23 assists and five kills, while Adam Black collected put away seven kills of his own. Marshall Nixon stuffed four blocks while, Isaiah Han picked up nine digs for Messiah. Jared Keul and Eric Weaver also contributed eight digs apiece.

Sluggish Start For Falcons
Messiah struggled to generate their offense in the first two games clipping .000 in both sets. The first set they collected seven kills, seven errors on 25 attempts and in game two they terminated five swings on 28 attempts with five errors. The Scarlet Raiders on the other hand hit an impressive .423 in the opening set to take it 25-12.
 
Rutgers-Newark jumped out to an early 11-4 lead over the Falcons, in which they earned eight of their first 11 points off of kills. The Falcons traded points with Rutgers-Newark throughout the middle of the set with kills from Marshall Nixon and Will Webb (12-6), however the Scarlet Raiders kept their foot on the gas and finished game one outscoring Messiah 12-to-6 to claim the first set 25-12.
 
Noah Shreiner got things started for the Falcons with a kill to open set two. The two teams battled back-and-forth early in the set and Rutgers-Newark held a one-point lead over Messiah (8-7). The Scarlet Raiders began to pull ahead after two-consecutive points, however a kill from Will Webb and an error by Rutgers allowed the Falcons to come within one, 10-9. The Scarlet Raiders then launched off on a 15-to-5 scoring run to close out the set (25-14) and to move up 2-0.
 
Falcons Battle Back
Messiah came alive in the third set and won it 25-14, they also hit a game-high .250. Although the Falcons were trailing early, they scored three-straight points to take a 4-3 advantage over the Scarlet Raiders. Messiah continued to find their rhythm throughout the middle of the set and took a 13-8 lead after a kill from Jared Keul, an ace from Will Webb, and a block from Brad Nase and Noah Shreiner. The Falcons worked their way up to an eight-point lead (18-10) after three-straight errors from Rutgers-Newark and then closed out the set on a 7-to-4 run to win the third set 25-14. Noah Shreiner finished the set with a kill in the middle off of Brad Nase's assist.
 
Tight Final Set
The Falcons were trailing early in the fourth set but scored three-straight points including a block from Marshall Nixon and Will Webb to tie the game at 7-7. The Scarlet Raiders once again pulled ahead on an 8-to-2 run to take a 15-9 lead, but the Falcons were able to generate some momentum and battle back. Messiah went on 10-to-3 run in the middle of the set to take a 19-18 lead. Throughout this turning point, the Falcons collected four kills and a block from Adam Black and Marshall Nixon. Rutgers-Newark picked up a block to tie the game at 18-18, but a kill from Marshall Nixon gave Messiah a one-point advantage. The Scarlet Raiders scored four-straight points at the end of the set to pull ahead 22-19 but then made back-to-back errors to keep the Falcons close (22-21). Rutgers-Newark closed the set out on a 3-to-1 run to win the set (25-22) and claim the match 3-1.
 
Up Next
Messiah will look to bounce back when they host Penn State Altoona on Wednesday, Mar. 13. This will kick off a stretch where the Falcons will host seven-straight home matches.