GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah College men's volleyball team fell in their final home match of the year to the top-seeded Arcadia Knights in three straight-sets (25-20, 25-16, 25-20). Messiah competed in both the first and third games, but late runs from the Knights gave Arcadia the upper-hand. The Falcons were only trailing by one point (19-18) in game three, however the Knights closed out the set on a 5-to-1 run to claim the set 25-20. Messiah fell to an overall record of 17-10 and 8-5 in the conference, while Arcadia moved to 24-7 and 13-1 in the MAC.

Matt Knab led the Falcons with eight kills and eight digs, while Noah Shreiner added seven kills and two blocks. Ian Parzyszek also contributed adding six kills and six digs to the stat sheet. Brad Nase controlled the offense with 26 assists and added six kills off setter dumps.

Falcons Battle Late, Unable to Close
The Falcons were trailing 4-2 early in the first set, however Messiah collected back-to-back kills from Noah Shreiner and Ian Parzyszek to tie things up. The Knights continued to build upon their lead and took a 13-9 lead after two errors from the Falcons. Nevertheless, Shreiner and Parzyszek responded by terminating off of Brad Nase's assists to bring Arcadia's advantage back down to two points. Once again, Arcadia continued to push and pulled ahead 21-14 late in the set, but Messiah wasn't done yet. The Falcons scored three-straight points after a kill from Matt Knab and back-to-back errors from the Knights, but Arcadia sided-out closed out the set 25-20 to move ahead 1-0 in the match. The Falcons hit a match high of .171 in the first set, collecting 14 kills. Matt Knab secured seven of the Falcons' 14 kills.
 
Messiah Struggles To Find Offensive Rhythm
The Knights opened up the second set with four-straight points, but Noah Shreiner ended the run with a kill to lead his team on a 5-to-2 run (6-5). Arcadia then generated some momentum and pulled ahead 12-7, but Messiah pieced together three-consecutive points including a kill by Ian Parzyszek to bring the Knights' lead down to two (12-10). Unfortunately, the Falcons couldn't maintain the momentum and Arcadia pulled ahead 17-12. Messiah once again scored three-straight points after a kill and block from Matt Knab to bring the Knights' margin down to two (17-15). However, Arcadia outscored Messiah 8-to-1 to close out the set 25-16 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Early Lead For Falcons, Knights Battle Back
After trailing 6-4 early in the third, Messiah went on a 6-to-1 run to pull ahead 10-7. Brad Nase and Will Webb got this run started to two-straight kills and Matt Knab collected an ace at the end of the run. Arcadia collected four-consecutive points to regain the lead at 11-10, however the Falcons collected back-to-back points to go back on top (12-11). The side-out battle continued and the score was tied at four different occasions until the Knights pulled ahead 19-18. Arcadia called a timeout to talk things over and came out of the timeout on a 6-to-2 run to close the set (25-20) and to pick up a 3-0 sweep.
 
Up Next
Messiah will be back in action this Saturday, Apr. 6 when they travel to Misericordia for their final regular season matches. The Falcons and Cougars will play at 1:00 p.m. in a Middle Atlantic Conference battle for the third and fourth seed. Messiah will then turn around and face Elmira at 3:00 p.m.