GRANTHAM, PA. – The fourth seeded Messiah women's volleyball team hosted the fifth seeded Widener Pride on Monday night in the MAC Commonwealth Play-In Game. With a berth to the MAC Commonwealth Semifinal on the line, Messiah dominated the Pride 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-13). Mackenzie Feight had herself a night, recording 17 kills and ten digs, pushing the Falcons into a Semifinal date with the Eastern Eagles. Messiah will face Eastern on Wednesday, Nov 3 at 7:00PM in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals.
 
Messiah defeats Widener 3-0
The teams traded points early in the first set until 7-7 and then Messiah started to take command. Messiah held a 12-7 lead after five straight points which prompted a Widener timeout. Messiah would go on to win six of the next nine points to take an 18-10 lead. Another Widener timeout would not help the Pride, as Messiah would continue to control the set and went on to win rather convincingly 25-15. The set ended on an emphatic Mackenzie Feight kill as Messiah took the 1-0 lead after one. Widener had no answer for Feight, as she had seven kills in that first set.

Feight picked up right where she left off and started the second set with a thunderous kill. Messiah led the set 6-1, 8-2 and then 10-4 before a Widener timeout stopped the action. Timely kills from Tatum Oakley and Chayney Barnhart helped push the Falcons to that commanding lead in the second set. Rightfully so, the Falcons continued to feed Mackenzie Feight throughout the set and she continued to reward the Falcons on the night. Multiple attack errors from Messiah midway through the set allowed Widener to make a late push to bring the score to 17-15. After a Messiah timeout, Widener tied the score at 20-20. Two quick points from Messiah forced a Widener timeout. At 23-20 an Emma Swartz serve was clearly on its way out but Lilyanna Martucci couldn't get out of the way and it hit her in the shoulder and gave the point to the Falcons. That essentially put the set out of reach for Widener as none other than Mackenzie Feight would finish off the set with her sixth kill of the set, giving her 13 through two. Messiah won 25-20 to take a 2-0 lead.

The third set started off with a two reception errors for Widener, which was indicative of how the third set would go for the Pride. However, Widener kept it close at 9-9 but Messiah would have none of that. The Falcons held a 16-10 advantage before Widener took a timeout to try to save their season. Mackenzie Feight continued her dominant effort on the night, recording kill after kill eliminating any hopes Widener had. Messiah won the third set easily 25-13.

Stats
The story of the night was Mackenzie Feight. Widener stood no chance of stopping Feight, as she went to hit .333 on the night with a team high 17 kills. Feight also added ten digs on the night. Caitlin Lielbriedis was next in line with nine kills.

Emma Swartz had a team high 31 assists while Amanda Dahlman led the team with 16 digs on the night.
 
Up Next
This is Messiah's ninth straight win and are playing their best volleyball of the season at the right time. They will travel to St. Davids, Pa. on Wednesday, Nov. 3 to face the first seeded Eastern University Eagles at 7:00PM. The last time Messiah played Eastern on Oct. 20,  the Falcons reverse swept the Eagles and handed Eastern their only conference loss on the regular season.