ALTOONA, Pa. – The Messiah College men's volleyball team moved to 8-2 overall after defeating the Penn State Altoona Nittany Lions 3-1 (25-15, 25-13, 22-25, 25-13) on Wednesday evening. The Falcons came out strong, securing the first two sets with ease 25-15, 25-13. Messiah began to struggle offensively early in the third set, yet fought to come within one-point of the lead (20-19) late in the game. The Lions were able to regain the momentum and closed out the third set 25-22. Messiah responded and dominated in the fourth and final set, claiming a 25-13 victory to pick up their seventh-straight win of the season.

Matt Knab did a phenomenal job running a balanced attack and collected 32 assists along with three aces and three blocks in the match. Noah Shreiner (.750) led the Falcons with nine kills, while Mason Nissley (.533) added eight. Neither Shreiner nor Nissley committed an attack error in the four sets of play. Ian Parzyszek terminated on seven kills and collected six digs for Messiah, while Caleb Weaver led the defensive unit with 10 digs.

Falcons Dominate Opening Set
Messiah jumped out to an early 6-2 lead over Penn State Altoona and did not look back. Mason Nissley terminated on a massive kill to extend the Falcons' lead to 8-4 and ignited his team on a 4-0 run. This run included kills from Noah Shreiner and Adam Black as well as an ace from Ian Parzyszek. The Falcons continued to pull ahead and took off on another four-point spurt after a kill from Noah Shreiner, back-to-back aces from Matt Knab, and a kill from Will Webb; which put Messiah up 16-7. Messiah kept their foot on the gas the rest of the set and finished off with an ace from Matt Knab to claim the 25-15 win.

The Falcons did a good job establishing the middle early which opened up a lot of opportunities for the pins. As a team, the Falcons hit .346 in the opening set, collecting 13 kills on 26 attempts while only committing four errors. Messiah's aggressive serving kept the Lions out of system and they were only able to score on five swings in the opening set.

Lions Struggle Offensively
Messiah maintained their momentum as they started the second set, leaping to a 10-2 lead. This included six attacking errors from the Lions. Penn State Altoona went on a 4-to-1 run to chip away at Messiah's advantage, but an enormous kill from Matt Schaefer put the Falcons back on top (12-6). The two teams traded points back and forth throughout the middle of the set, and Messiah had a 20-11 lead with the finish line in sight. Messiah closed out the set 25-13 after a kill from Ian Parzyszek and an ace from Noah Shreiner.

The Lions struggled to provide any sort of offense in the second set. They hit -.348 as a team and committed 11 total attack errors while only scoring three kills. The Falcons on the other hand continued to terminate well (.333), collecting 10 kills on 21 attempts with only three errors.

Late Surge Not Enough
The third set began with some early back-and-forth action from both teams. The score was tied at 8-8, however the Lions scored back-to-back points to pull ahead 10-8. The Falcons quickly sided out with a kill from Noah Wilson, yet once again Penn State Altoona scored two-consecutive points to pull ahead 12-9. The Lions held the momentum throughout the middle of the set and pulled ahead 16-10.

Messiah sided out at 16-11 after an error by the Lions and began to slowly chip away at the lead. The Falcons pieced together a 5-to-2 run to come within two-points of the lead (18-16) which caused Penn State Altoona to call a timeout.

The Lions came out of the timeout and extended their lead to 20-17 after a big presence at the net. However, a kill from Ian Parzyszek and an ace from Isaiah Han kept the Falcons in it (20-19). Penn State Altoona continued to have the upper hand and closed out the set on a 5-to-3 scoring run to secure a 25-22 victory.

Messiah Responds With Confidence
After trailing 5-3 early in the fourth set, the Falcons went on an eight-point swing to pull ahead 11-5. This run included four blocks, an ace from Adam Black, a kill from Mason Nissley and two errors by the Lions. Messiah continued to hold the momentum throughout the middle of the set and back-to-back kills and a block from Mason Nissley extended Messiah's lead to 15-6. The Falcons kept their foot on the gas and soared to a 25-13 victory after another crosscourt kill by Nissley.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 21 when they take on No.9 Juniata College. This match will be taking place at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA at 7:00 p.m.