GRANTHAM, Pa. - Messiah College men's volleyball defeated No. 9 Arcadia 3-2 on Wednesday evening in a five-set thriller. The Falcons jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after defeating the Knights 25-21, 26-24 in the first two sets. Arcadia responded and won sets three (25-19) and four (25-22) to tie the match up at 2-2. Messiah then closed out the tight fifth set with a kill from Mason Nissley to secure a 15-13 victory. 

This was the first time in program history that the Falcons defeated a ranked opponent and this is the second time in program history Messiah has defeated Arcadia. The last time the Falcons beat the Knights was on Feb. 14, 2018. With this win, Messiah moved to 3-2 on the season and 1-0 in the Middle Atlantic Conference, while Arcadia falls to 4-5 and 0-1 in the MAC.

Three Falcons reached double figures in the kill column; with Mason Nissley leading the way with 19, Ian Parzyszek had 16 and Luke Olson added 12. Matt Knab delivered the ball well and collected 47 assists on the evening, while Caleb Weaver led the Falcons defensively with 17 digs. Adam Black was steady from the service line, collecting three of the team's five total aces.

Messiah's Efficient Attack
Messiah came out terminating the ball at a high rate. They hit .500% in the first set, tallying 13 kills on 20 attempts with only three errors. The first set opened with some back-and forth action, but Messiah began to generate some momentum which led to a 3-0 run during the middle of the set. Mason Nissley started this run with a kill, followed by two Arcadia attack errors to give Messiah a 17-15 lead. The side out battle continued, but then the Knights went on a small 4-to-2 run to tie the set up at 20-20. Messiah maintained their composure and responded with four-consecutive points to take a 24-20 lead over Arcadia. This four-point run included a triple block from Mason Nissley, Matt Knab, and Nate Bowman and a double block by Bowman and Knab. The Knights sided out after a quick kill, yet Mason Nissley answered with a kill of his own to win the opening set 25-21.

Knights Battle Back Late, Falcons Hold On
Messiah got things started early in the second set and leaped out to a 5-1 lead after a kill from Luke Olson and four errors from the Knights. Arcadia began to battle back and came within one-point of the lead (5-4) but a kill from Noah Shreiner put the Falcons back on top 6-4. The two teams began to side out back-and-forth throughout the middle of the set, but once again the Falcons ran off on a 5-to-1 scoring spree to take a 23-19 lead. The Knights fought late in the set and eventually tied the game at 24-24, but Messiah closed out the second set (26-24) with two kills from outside hitters, Mason Nissley and Ian Parzyszek, to pull ahead 2-0 in the match.

Momentum Shifts To Knights
The Falcons struggled offensively in the third set, hitting a .031 (10 kills, nine errors, on 32 attempts) and committing eight service errors. Although Arcadia only collected seven kills during game three, they were able to minimize their errors much more than Messiah did.

Messiah held a 14-12 lead in the middle of the third set after scoring back-to-back points, including an ace from Caleb Weaver. However, the Knights reacted and went on a 10-to-1 run to pull ahead, 22-15. A late kill from Nate Bowman and an ace from Adam Black wouldn't be enough, Arcadia claimed the third set 25-19 and picked up their first victory of the match.

The Knights carried their momentum into the fourth set and bounded out to an early 6-4 lead. Nonetheless, Messiah was ready to respond and tied things up at 6-6, after a kill and ace from Ian Parzyszek. Arcadia began to pull ahead (12-9), but Messiah continued to chip away and tied the set at 14-14 after another Parzyszek kill and a block from Nate Bowman. Once again, the momentum shifted and the Knights took at 18-14 lead after scoring four-straight points. Messiah didn't give up and went on a 5-to-2 run to come within one-point of the lead (20-19). Despite the late effort from Messiah, the Knights closed out the fourth set 25-22 and tied the match at 2-2.

Falcons Soar In Fifth Set
Messiah got things started early in the final set with back-to-back kills from Mason Nissley and Luke Olson to take a 2-0 lead. The Falcons continued to hold a two-point lead after Matt Knab found Ian Parzyszek for their fourth kill of the set, to go up 4-2. After four-straight missed serves, the Knights terminated a ball to bring Messiah's lead down to one (6-5). The Falcons then sparked some momentum and collected three-straight points after back-to-back kills from Nissley and Knab and an ace from Black, to take a 9-5 advantage. Arcadia pieced together a 6-to-3 run to come within two points of the lead (13-11), however after committing a service error, the Falcons were one-point away from claiming the match (14-11). The Knights didn't give up and scored on back-to-back plays to narrow the lead to one-point (14-13). However, Matt Knab found Mason Nissley on the left pin who picked up his 19th kill of the match to make history for the Falcons. Messiah soared to a 3-2 victory over the ninth-ranked Arcadia Knights.

What's Up Next
Messiah will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 7 when they tavel to Widener University for a 7:00 p.m. start. The Falcons will then turn around and take on Lehman College (12:00 p.m.) and Kean University (2:00 p.m.) in a tri-match in Union, NJ on Saturday.