DALLAS, Pa. - The Messiah College men's volleyball team ended their regular season with two sweeps at Misericordia on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons swept the Cougars 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 27-25) to claim the third-seed heading into the Middle Atlantic Conference tournament with a 9-5 conference record. Misericordia will be the fourth-seed heading into the MAC tournament with a record of 8-6. Messiah also swept the Eagles from Elmira College in the second match of the afternoon. The Falcons defeated the Eagles 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-12) and finished with a regular season record of 19-10.

Messiah Defeats Misericordia 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 27-25)
The Messiah College men's volleyball team clinched the third-seed going into the conference tournament after they defeated the Cougars 3-0. The Falcons will take on Stevenson in the MAC semifinals on Wednesday evening. Noah Shreiner led the Falcons with nine kills and three blocks, while Ian Parzyszek collected eight kills and nine digs. Brad Nase steadied the offense with 23 assists and also picked up five kills. As a team, Messiah clipped a .242 on the match collecting 39 kills on 91 attempts with 17 errors.
 
Messiah had a 10-7 advantage after collecting a kill from Brad Nase followed by a block by Nase and Noah Shreiner, however Misericordia battled back and tied things up at 12-12. The score was then tied at nine different times as the teams battled back-and-forth. At 20-20, Messiah collected back-to-back kills from Will Webb and Ian Parzyszek to take a two-point advantage. The Cougars terminated to come within one (22-21), but the Falcons closed out the set with three-straight points to take game one 25-21.
 
The Cougars jumped out to a 14-8 lead over the Falcons, in which 10 of those 14 points were scored off of kills. The Falcons started to generate some momentum after a kill from Brad Nase and a block by Marshall Nixon and Will Webb to bring Misericordia's advantage down to four (14-10). The side out battle began for both teams and the Cougars were one-point away from closing out the set, 24-21. Messiah came from behind and went on a 4-to-0 run to receive game point (25-24). Noah Shreiner got this run started and Ian Parzyszek finished it with back-to-back kills. Misericordia tied things back up at 25-25, but back-to-back errors from the Cougars handed Messiah a 27-25 victory and a 2-0 advantage in the match.
 
The Falcons pulled ahead early in game three (8-5) after a block from Nixon and Webb and back-to-back errors from the Cougars. However, Misericordia responded and the back-and-forth action continued throughout the majority of the set. The Cougars went on a 5-to-1 run to pull ahead 18-15, but the Falcons responded with a 5-to-1 run of their own to regain a 20-19 advantage. Misericordia scored back-to-back points to go up one-point (21-20), nonetheless Messiah scored three-straight points including another kill from Noah Shreiner to pull ahead 23-21. The Cougars answered with two-consecutive points, but a kill from Brad Nase gave Messiah match point (24-23). Misericordia collected another kill to tie things at 24-24, however this time Matt Knab terminated to give Messiah their second match point (25-24). Once again, the Cougars tallied a point to tie the game (25-25), but this time the Falcons collected two-straight points, a kill and block from Marshall Nixon, to win the set 27-25.
 
Messiah Defeats Elmira 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-12)
Messiah soared to victory in their second match of the afternoon. Offensively, the Falcons hit a .338 after collecting 36 kills on 74 attempts and only committing 11 total attack errors. Matt Knab led the way with 11 kills with Noah Shreiner added six. Brad Nase dished out 30 assists and Eric Weaver secured a career-high of 12 digs.

The Falcons got off to a hot start and held a 5-2 advantage over Elmira, including two kills from Matt Knab and one from Brad Nase. The Eagles began chipping away at the Falcons' lead and came as close to one-point (8-7), however Messiah then launched off on an 8-to-1 run to pull ahead 16-8. The Falcons continued to step on the gas and won game one 25-14. Messiah clipped a match-high .429 and only committed two attack errors in the set.

Messiah had a decent 18-12 lead in the middle of the second set, however Elmira collected six unanswered points to tie the game at 18-18. A kill from Matt Knab put Messiah back on top, but the Eagles responded with back-to-back points to take a 21-20 lead. The Falcons closed out the set on a 5-to-1 run, which included a kill from Ian Parzyszek and four errors by Elmira, and took set two 25-22.

Much like game one, the Falcons had a dominant start to the third and final set, jumping out to an early 16-4 lead. Elmira went on a small 4-to-1 run late in the set to bring Messiah's advantage down to nine (19-10). However, the Falcons finished the set on a 6-to-2 run to win it 25-12. Mason McCullough ended the match with a kill off of Jared Keul's assist to pick up the second sweep (3-0) of the afternoon.

Up Next
No. 3 Messiah will take on No. 2 Stevenson in the Middle Atlantic Conference semifinal on Wednesday, April 10 in Owings Mills, Maryland at 7:00 p.m. No. 4 Misericordia will travel to No. 1 Arcadia in the other semifinal match. The MAC Championship match will be played on Saturday, April 13 at the highest remaining seed.