GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah College men's volleyball team hosted the Cairn University Highlanders in Brubaker Auditorium on Friday evening. The Falcons came away with a 3-0 sweep over the Highlanders. Messiah opened up with a dominant 25-12 win in the first set, followed by a commanding 25-10 win in the second set. The third set was a tight one, but the Falcons were able to hold on for a 25-22 win and a clean sweep.

As a team, the Falcons hit .384 on the match and collected nine aces. Nate Bowman led Messiah with seven kills, while Noah Shreiner and Matt Schaefer each collected six. Matt Knab and Jared Keul steadied the offense with 21 and 12 assists, respectively. Mason Nissley was solid from the service line, he picked up three of the team's nine aces.

Efficient Offense Gives Messiah Upper Hand
Messiah opened up the first set hitting a game high .533, after they terminated ten swings and only committed two errors on 15 attempts. They also held the Highlanders to just three kills in the opening game and caused them to hit -0.125.

The Highlanders had an early 6-4 lead after a couple of aces and an attack error by the Falcons. Messiah started to generate some momentum and went on a 9-to-2 run to pull ahead 13-8. Cairn sided out after a service error from Messiah, but a kill from Masson Nissley, two services aces from Matt Knab, and a kill from Ian Parzyszek gave the Falcons an eight-point lead (17-9) late in the set. The Falcons continued to keep their foot on the gas and finished the game with a kill from Matt Knab to claim the 25-12 victory.

Falcons Keep Their Foot On The Gas
The Falcons continued to stay efficient offensively in game two, hitting a 0.481 as a team. Messiah jumped out to a 10-3 lead, which included two kills from Matt Schaefer and Jared Keul. A kill from Cairn brought Messiah's lead down to six, however the Falcons continued to have the upper hand and exploded on a 9-to-5 run to grab a 19-8 lead over the Highlanders. Mason Nissley completed this run with back-to-back aces for Messiah. Once again, Cairn sided out after a Falcon service error, but Messiah was able to close out the set on a 6-to-1 scoring spree, to win 25-10. Noah Shreiner led the Falcons with three kills in the second set.

Highlanders Battle, Messiah Victorious
The Highlanders led early in the set (7-5) after scoring two consecutive points, however Messiah scored four-straight points, including kills from Nate Bowman and Adam Black, to regain the lead (9-7). The two teams continued to battle throughout the middle of the set, exchanging points back-and-forth, and the score was tied on five different occasions. Messiah tied the game at 15-15 and then scored five unanswered points to take a five-point (20-15) lead over the Highlanders. Nate Bowman got this run started off a kill from Jared Keul, and Messiah also picked up a triple block (Black, Shreiner, Keul) in the middle of this run. Cairn didn't give up, they fought and came within one-point of the lead (22-21) after scoring three-straight points late in the set. Nonetheless, the Falcons would close out the set with another kill from Matt Schaefer to win the game 25-22.

What's Up Next
With this win, the Falcons moved to 10-4 on the season and will look to continue their success tomorrow. Messiah will be hosting a home tri-match in Brubaker Auditorium on Saturday, Mar. 7. The Falcons will take on Alvernia University at 12:00 p.m. and King's College at 4:00 p.m. The two opponents will play a neutral site match at 2:00 p.m.