ASTON, Pa. - The Messiah women's volleyball team defeated the Catholic University of America Cardinals 3-2 (27-25, 25-17, 24-26, 18-25, 17-15) in their first match at the Neumann Knights Invitational Friday night. In an exciting five-set affair, the Falcons jump out to a 2-0 lead in the match. It turned into a brawl after Catholic fought back into the match with victories in sets three and four, sending things to a deciding fifth set. After being down 13-9 in set-five, Messiah clawed their way back to a 17-15 victory in the game, and a 3-2 win in the match.

A number of individuals picked up season-highs on the night with Mary Underman tying her season-high with 21 kills, Kristen Seibert dishing out 55 assists, and Amanda Dahlman recording 26 digs in the contest. The Falcons hop right back into action tomorrow afternoon when they take on Rosemont College at 12:00 p.m. and the host Neumann University Knights at 2:00 p.m. 

Falcons Race Out To 2-0 Lead 
Messiah found themselves down 8-7 at the start of set one. The Falcons then seized the momentum of the set, going on a 7-0 run to take a 14-8 lead. Underman recorded three kills during the flurry while Natalie Marsch chipped in two kills. Messiah held their lead at 18-12 before the Cardinals began to make their move, going on a 4-0 run to get to within two at 18-16. The two teams then battled to a 25-25 tie before the Falcons got kills from Payton Manwaring and Underman to win the game 27-25.

Messiah grabbed the momentum in the second set, holding a 16-10 lead midway through the game. Catholic cut into the lead at 16-14, but Messiah responded with a 4-0 run of their own to stretch their lead back to 20-14. The Cardinals could not muster a rally as the Falcons won the game 25-17. Lanae Hunsberger recorded four-straight kills to end the set for Messiah.

Cardinals Show Grit, Fight Back Into Match
As they did all night long, Messiah and Catholic went back-and-forth throughout the third set, with neither team getting ahead by more than three points. Catholic ultimately broke through with a 26-24 set win, but not before the second set of the night needed extra play to be decided.

The Cardinals grabbed control early in set-four, holding a 14-6 lead. After the early deficit, Messiah tried chipping away throughout the rest of the set but could not make the comeback and dropped the set 25-18.

Messiah Earns Win In Nail-Biting Fashion
As they did in set four, Catholic got out to an early lead in the winner-take-all fifth set. Four Isabelle Cooper kills helped the Cardinals grab a 13-9 lead. Messiah then went on the run of the night led by three kills from Underman. The 5-0 Messiah streak gave the Falcons a 14-13 lead. On a Messiah match point, Catholic made things interesting once again, rattling off two straight points to give them a match point of their own at 15-14. It was not meant to be as Messiah used two Cardinal errors and an Underman kill to secure the 17-15 comeback victory in the set and the 3-2 win in the match. It was a classic battle between the two teams, with three of the five sets needing extra volleyball to be decided.

Falcon Milestones
Mary Underman has recorded 28 block assists this season to put her at 269 in her career. She needs 29 more to break the Messiah program record of 297 career block assists. Amanda Dahlman has recorded 201 digs this season, putting her at 1,226 digs in her career. She needs 313 digs to break the Messiah program-record of 1,538 career digs.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will conclude the Neumann Knights Invitational tomorrow when they play Rosemont College at 12:00 p.m. and Neumann University at 2:00 p.m.