GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah College men's volleyball team suffered their first conference loss of the season on Wednesday evening. The Falcons took on Stevenson University and fell to the Mustangs 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-23) in a battle between two Middle Atlantic Conference powerhouses. The Falcons struggled offensively in the first two sets (25-17, 25-13), however they started to generate some momentum in the third set. Messiah had tied the game up at 20-20 after trailing Stevenson 20-17. The teams battled back-and-forth at the end of the set and the Mustangs held on for a 25-23 victory. Messiah fell to 12-5 overall and 4-1 in the Middle Atlantic Conference, while Stevenson moved 12-5 and 3-1 in conference action.

Noah Shreiner and Matt Knab had a consistent hitter-setter connection all night. Shreiner (.400) led the Falcons with 8 kills and Knab dished out 22 assists. Mason Nissley added seven kills, while Nate Bowman terminated four. Caleb Weaver led the defense with seven digs.

Falcons Struggle In First Two Sets
Messiah opened the first set with a 3-1 lead after kills from Luke Olson, Mason Nissley, and a block from Nissley and Noah Shreiner. However, the Mustangs responded and took a 6-4 lead after back-to-back kills of their own. Messiah traded runs with Stevenson and tied the game up at 6-6. The Mustangs began to pull ahead and took a five-point (18-13) lead after two errors from Messiah. The Falcons scored back-to-back points to bring Stevenson's lead down to three-points (18-15), however the Mustangs closed out the set on a 7-to-2 run to win it 25-17.

Messiah hit a match-high .172 in the opening set, collecting 13 kills on 29 attempts. However the Falcons committed eight attack errors and four service errors which made the difference. The Mustangs were steady offensively hitting a .391 in set one.

The Falcons trailed the Mustangs 10-3 in the second set. The two teams began to trade points back-and-forth throughout the middle of the match, but a 6-to1 run from Stevenson extended their lead to 11-points (21-10). The Falcons scored two points late in the set, but it wouldn't be enough. The Mustangs took a 2-0 lead after claiming the second set 25-13.

Messiah Competes In Third, Can't Hold On
After trailing early in the set, Messiah tied the game up at 6-6 after connecting on back-to-back points, including a kill from Mason Nissley. The Mustangs took off on a 9-to-2 run to gain a 15-8 advantage over Messiah in the middle of the set. Nate Bowman ended this run with a kill and launched Messiah on a four-point run of their own to come within three-points of the lead (15-12). The Falcons continued to battle and went on another 4-to-1 scoring spurt to bring the Mustangs' advantage down to one, 17-16. Stevenson responded and took a 20-17 lead late in the set. Messiah wasn't done. A kill from Noah Shreiner, block from Marshall Nixon and Matt Knab, followed by an ace from Shreiner allowed the Falcons to tie the match up at 20-20. The two teams sided out back-and-forth and once again Messiah had the game tied at 23-23 after a solo block from Ian Parzyszek. Nonetheless, Stevenson responded with two consecutive kills to end the match 25-23.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday, Mar. 14 when they travel to Wilkes University for a tri-match. Messiah will take on the host Wilkes University at 11:00 a.m. and will complete the tri with a match against John Jay College at 1:00 p.m.