GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's volleyball team dropped their Wednesday night matchup with Arcadia University 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 25-16). A pair of Falcons in Lanae Hunsberger and Kate Preudhomme led the way with 10 kills in the match. Messiah will look to get back on track this weekend when they travel to Juniata College for a tournament that will see them face off with Saint Vincent College on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The Falcons will play two on Saturday, starting with the University of Rochester at 4:00 p.m. and Juniata College at 6:00 p.m.

Back-And-Forth Early
Early in set one, Arcadia jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead. Messiah then found their footing and went on a 7-2 run to take an 8-7 lead. Errors were the theme of the set as Messiah recorded six errors while the Knights made seven. With Messiah up 16-15, the Knights recorded three straight points to give them an 18-16 advantage. This run proved to be the difference as Arcadia held on to win the set 25-22.

Heartbreaking Defeat
After Messiah led by as many as three in the early going of game two, the Knights fought their way back to tie the set 12-12. Arcadia took the lead 13-12 and kept that lead until kills from Natalie Marsch and Mary Underman helped tie the set back up at 16. After a service error for Messiah put Arcadia up a point, the Falcons rattled off four straight points to give themselves a 20-17 lead. Messiah kept that lead into a match-point situation at 24-22. The Falcons were not able to hold on however, as Arcadia rallied and produced a 4-0 run to hand Messiah a heartbreaking 26-24 set loss.

After falling behind 6-1 early on, Messiah found themselves trying to claw their way back all throughout set three.  Every time the Falcons tried to fight back, Arcadia had an answer. Messiah worked their way back to within three, but that was as close as they got with Arcadia winning the set 25-16 to take the match 3-0.

What's Up Next
After the loss Messiah falls to 11-4 overall and holds a 1-2 record in the MAC Commonwealth. The Falcons return to action Friday afternoon against Saint Vincent College at 3:00 p.m. at the Juniata Tournament. On Saturday, Messiah battles with the University of Rochester at 4:00 p.m. and then the host Juniata College Eagles at 6:00 p.m.