GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah women's volleyball team dropped a Wednesday night home match against Stevenson University, 3-2 (25-27, 20-25, 26-24, 26-24, 6-15). The Falcons fell behind in the contest, 2-0, but came storming back to force a decisive set five. Despite falling short in the fifth set,
Mackenzie Feight recorded a match-high 22 kills, as
Kristen Seibert led all players with 46 assists.
Messiah established itself well in the opening set of the match. Feight and
Caitlin Lielbriedis contributed back-to-back kills to give the Falcons a 2-0 edge, as the lead would grow to 10-5 before a Stevenson timeout. A 6-2 Mustangs' scoring run cut the deficit for the visitors to two (13-11). Feight had an answer, rattling off consecutive kills to increase the Messiah advantage to 15-11. The Falcons continued their offensive momentum, extending their lead to 21-17 after three-straight points. Stevenson did not roll over, and despite two kills from Lielbriedis at the end of the set, the visitors scored eight of the set's last 12 points to clinch Game One, 27-25.
The Falcons, trailing 1-0, looked to answer in the second set. The two sides traded points in the beginning of the set before the Mustangs rode a 7-0 scoring run to separate themselves from the hosts, 11-5. Messiah cut the deficit to two, 17-15, when Lielbriedis,
Chayney Barnhart, and Feight all notched consecutive kills. The kills were a part of a 6-1 scoring run, peaking when Barnhart connected on a set from Seibert to level the game at 18-18. Messiah and Stevenson each traded points to extend the tie to 19-19 before the Mustangs scored four-straight points to separate themselves, 23-19. A
Rachel Rashford kill brought Messiah back within a three-point deficit (23-20), but Stevenson prevailed in Game Two, 25-20.
Messiah found itself in a 2-0 hole with its back against the wall. The Falcons responded well in sets three and four, clinching each set by a score of 26-24. A 5-0 scoring run for Messiah, highlighted by kills from
Emma Swartz and
Rachel Garratt, put the home side up by four points (16-12) in Game Three. The Mustangs battled back to take a late 22-21 lead, and eventually extended the lead to 24-23. The Falcons were a point away from losing, but rattled off three-consecutive points to save the match, clinching the third set, 26-24.
The Falcons cultivated momentum in the third set to clinch the fourth set in similar fashion. The two sides battled back-and-forth throughout the set as Stevenson led the set late, 24-23. Messiah, just a point away from losing in its second-consecutive set, scored three-straight to steal the set, 26-24. Feight registered the set-clinching kill to force a decisive Game Five.
The Mustangs did not wait to grab a commanding lead in the winner-take-all set. The visitors jumped out to a prompt 5-0 advantage, extending the lead to 11-2. Consecutive Stevenson attacking errors cut Messiah's deficit to seven (11-4), but the Mustangs went on to earn the set, 15-6, winning the match by a narrow margin of 3-2.
The Falcons fought hard throughout the whole match as eight different players contributed kills. Four different players recorded double-digit digs, including
Amanda Dahlman (20), Hailer Miller (15), Seibert (14), and Feight (13). Dahlman's 20 digs was a game-high mark as Feight's 22 kills increases her season total to 243, a conference-leading mark.
The loss drops Messiah's record to 11-7 (3-2 MAC Commonwealth)
What's Up Next
Messiah will return to the court this Saturday, Oct. 9, when it hosts a tri-match with Elizabethtown College and Rutgers-Camden at Hitchcock Arena. The Falcons will begin the day's action with a match against Elizabethtown at 11:00 a.m.
