Center Valley, Pa - The Messiah women's volleyball team scraped by Rowan Friday night 3-2 (25-20, 25-19, 20-25, 21-25, 17-15). Mackenzie Feight had a team high 21 kills while Kristen Seibert had 30 assists on the night. Amanda Dahlman tallied 25 digs and Chayney Barnhart added seven blocks. The Falcons are back in action on Saturday Oct. 23 when they face DeSales (10:00 AM) and SUNY Canton (12:00 PM).
Messiah defeats Rowan 3-2
Messiah won another five-set battle on Friday night, this time against Rowan 3-2 (25-20, 25-19, 20-25, 21-25, 17-15). Messiah used 67 team kills and 107 digs to take down the Profs in a close fifth set.
The first set was back and forth and all tied at 12-12. Messiah won seven straight points to go up 19-12 and was able to close out the first set 25-20. The Falcons jumped out to a 6-2 lead in set number two which was quickly erased by Rowan who won five straight points to take a 7-6 lead. The remainder of the set was controlled by Messiah who took the early two set lead taking the second set 25-19.
The third set started out similar to the second set with Messiah holding an early lead and Rowan taking the lead later at 7-6. After Messiah took the lead back at 11-8, Rowan won seven straight points for the 15-11 advantage. The Falcons would bring the deficit within one at 18-17, but Rowan closed the set and won 25-20. The fourth set quickly got out of hand for Messiah, as Rowan racked up a 10-3 lead. Messiah chipped away at the lead to cut it to 13-11 but Rowan won seven of eight points to take a commanding 20-12 lead. Messiah then won eight of ten points to once again cut the lead to two at 22-20 but it was Rowan who closed out the set 25-21 to force a fifth set.
The fifth set was well contested as Rowan had a 6-3 lead early which turned into a 13-9 lead. Messiah won four straight points to tie it at 13 before Rowan stopped the run to hold a 14-13 lead. The Falcons fought off match point and was able to win the fifth set 17-15 in exciting fashion.
Stats
Mackenzie Feight had 21 kills on the night while Chayney Barnhart added 14 kills. Barnhart also had seven blocks in the match.
Kristen Seibert has 30 assists and Emma Swartz had 19 on the evening.
Amanda Dahlman led the team in digs with 25 with Mackenzie Feight and Hailey Miller adding 20 and 18 respectively.
Notes
This is the Falcons fifth straight win on the season and have been playing their best volleyball of late. Messiah had previously faced Rowan earlier this year on September 3 and lost 3-1 (22-25, 16-25, 25-17, 19-25). In their five-game winning streak the Falcons have taken down strong opponents in Scranton and Eastern, with Eastern previously being undefeated in the conference.
Up Next
The win moves Messiah to 16-8 on the year. The Falcons are back in action tomorrow when they face DeSales and SUNY Canton at 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM.
