HUNTINGDON, Pa. - The Messiah women's volleyball team defeated the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-22) and fell to No. 8 Juniata College 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-14) at the Juniata Tournament on Saturday. The Falcons move to 13-5 overall on the season and will hit the road to Chester, Pa. for a 7:00 p.m. battle with Commonwealth foe Widener University on Tuesday.

Messiah Defeats University of Rochester (25-17, 25-23, 25-22)
The Falcons got off to a great start in set one, going up 13-4 on the Yellow Jackets. Five Falcons recorded a kill during the run. Rochester started to fight back in the set, going on a 10-5 run to get to within four at 18-14 and force a Messiah timeout. Out of the break, Rochester cut the lead to three at 18-15 after a Kellie McCrea kill. A kill from Payton Manwaring made the score 19-15 and settled the Falcons back into the set. They used this momentum to finish the set on a 6-2 and take game one 25-17.

Both teams fought to a 14-14 tie in set two, before Rochester went ahead with a 3-0 run to make it 17-14 and cause a Messiah timeout. The Falcons battled out of the timeout and tied the game at 18-18. The tie came during a 6-0 spurt to give Messiah a 22-18. Two Manwaring kills helped the Falcons produce the run. Messiah inched closer to a set win with a Kate Preudhomme kill to make it 24-20. The Yellow Jackets would not go away though, taking advantage of three Falcon errors to cut the lead to one at 24-23. After some drama, the Falcons were able to secure the set, winning 25-23 after a Mary Underman kill.

Game three was more of the same between both teams as Messiah held a slim 19-17 advantage. Rochester continued to fight back as they did all match and were able to tie things up at 20-20. Messiah then used kills from Underman and Preudhomme to generate a Yellow Jacket timeout with the score 23-21. After the timeout, Messiah took advantage of a few Rochester errors to hang on and win the set 25-22 and claim the match 3-0.

Messiah Falls To Juniata College 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-14)
After a victory over the University of Rochester, the Falcons jumped right back into action against No. 8 Juniata College. Juniata jumped ahead 9-3 early in set one and never looked back. The Eagles hit .429 in the set en route to a 25-12 victory.

Four Hunsberger kills along with a pair of Preudhomme aces helped push Messiah out to a 22-14 lead in set two. The Eagles began to claw their way back from this point in the game. Taking advantage of Falcon errors along with a trio of Victoria Taylor kills helped Juniata go on an 11-1 run to snag set two 25-23.  Juniata used six Taylor kills to win set three 25-14 and take the match 3-0.

What's Up Next
After moving to 13-5 overall Saturday, Messiah will get back into MAC Commonwealth play on Tuesday night when they travel to Widener University for a match at 7:00p.m.