GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Eastern Eagles took a commanding 2-0 lead over the Messiah women's volleyball team after winning the first two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-21 on Wednesday night in Hitchcock Arena. The Falcons showed their heart by extending the match with a 25-22 victory in the third before rolling through the Eagles by scores of 25-18 in the fourth and 15-7 in the fifth to earn an exhilarating 3-2 (16-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-7) victory over the Eastern Eagles. The win for the Falcons moved Messiah to 5-2 in the MAC Commonwealth and 15-8 overall. In the process, Messiah also hands Eastern their first loss in MAC Commonwealth play this season.
It was a total team effort for Messiah with
Mackenzie Feight (20 kills) and
Caitlin Lielbriedis (13 kills) leading the team offensively with
Emma Swartz dishing out 16 assists and
Amanda Dahlman finishing with a team-high 22 digs.
The Falcons are back in action this weekend when they travel to DeSales for a quad starting on Friday. They will face Rowan at 5:00 PM on October 23.
Messiah defeats Eastern 3-2
Eastern came out of the gate dominant and took the first set with ease. Eastern jumped out to leads of 6-2 and 12-6 which prompted two Messiah timeouts. But Eastern was too strong and proceeded to go up 20-12, before closing out the first set 25-16.
The second set was much more competitive from the Falcons, but it didn't start out that way as Eastern held an 8-3 advantage in the second set. Messiah got themselves back into the set getting to within one-point multiple times and tying the game at 13-13, 15-15 and 19-19. But Eastern pulled away with four straight points to go up 23-19 and finished off the set with a 25-21 win. Eastern held a commanding 2-0 set lead going into set three.
Messiah saw a personnel change in the third set when
Emma Swartz came into the game to stay for the Falcons. Messiah jumped out to a 6-1 lead and then a commanding 13-6 lead. Eastern used a six-point run to bring the set within one at 12-13 but Messiah would pull ahead to a 19-15 lead. Eastern scored five straight points to take a 20-19 lead but Messiah took over from that point on. The Falcons won six of eight points to claim the third set 25-22 and cut the set deficit to 2-1.
The fourth set was well contested early, as Eastern held a 5-3 lead which quickly turned into a 10-7 Messiah lead. That lead became 14-8 and blossomed into a 20-12 Messiah advantage. Eastern tried to claw back but dug themselves too deep into a hole as Messiah grabbed the fourth set 25-18.
The fifth and final decisive set started out with Eastern holding a 4-2 lead. That lead quickly vanished into an 8-4 Messiah lead which led to an Eastern timeout. It didn't help as Messiah closed out the fifth set 15-7 and won the match 3-2. Messiah used a 13-3 run along with multiple Eastern errors to claim the reverse sweep of the Eagles.
Stats
Mackenzie Feight led the team in kills with 20 while
Caitlin Lielbriedis added 13 kills on the evening.
Emma Swartz led the team in assists with 16 and also tallied 12 digs on the night.
Kristen Seibert had 12 assists on the night as well.
Amanda Dahlman had a team high 22 digs while
Rachel Garratt added 15 of her own.
Up Next
The win brings the Falcons record to 15-8 on the year and 5-2 in the conference. They are back in action this weekend when they play in the DeSales Quad match. They will face Rowan on October 22 at 5:00PM.
