HUNTINGDON, Pa. - The Messiah women's volleyball team defeated Saint Vincent College 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-23) on Friday afternoon at the Juniata Tournament. Four Falcons recorded seven or more kills in the match with Lanae Hunsberger leading the team with 16. After the win, Messiah is back in action tomorrow afternoon when they battle with the University of Rochester at 4:00 p.m. and Juniata College at 6:00 p.m.

Falcons Jump Ahead Early
Both teams swapped momentum early and often during the first set. Messiah grabbed an early 9-3 lead before St. Vincent came right back with a 6-1 spurt to get to within a point at 10-9. With both teams trading points, Messiah extended their lead to 18-14 and forced a Bearcat timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Bearcats scored three straight to cut the lead to one at 18-17. The Falcons then found their groove and went on an explosive 7-0 run to win the game 25-17. Leading the charge for Messiah was Mary Underman, who recorded a kill and two aces during the run.

Messiah found themselves trailing 8-5 at the start of game two before embarking on a dominating 8-0 run to take the lead 13-8. Hunsberger recorded two kills while Kristen Seibert recorded two aces during the flurry. The Bearcats were not able to recover after the onslaught, as Messiah took the set 25-16. This put the Falcons up 2-0 in the match.

Battle In Game Three
After Messiah grabbed the momentum of the match with a victory in set two, they took an 18-11 lead in set three. The Bearcats were not going to go down so easily though as they began to inch back into the set. Three Sarah Wozniak kills spearheaded a 5-1 St. Vincent run and forced a Messiah timeout with the score at 19-16.

Out of the timeout the Bearcats scored again to make the score 19-17. A Payton Manwaring kill gave the Falcons some breathing room, but it didn't last long as St. Vincent rattled off two straight to make it a 20-19 game. Both teams traded jabs as the Falcons went on a 3-1 spurt before the Bearcats answered with a 3-1 burst of their own to make it a 24-23 nail-biter. Hunsberger than recorded her sixteenth kill of the game to push the Falcons to a 25-23 win and a 3-0 match victory.

What's Up Next
This win moves Messiah to 12-4 overall and 1-2 in the MAC Commonwealth. They finish up the Juniata Tournament tomorrow afternoon when they face off with the University of Rochester at 4:00 p.m. and No. 8 Juniata College at 6:00 p.m.